Teaching English as a Second Language in Vietnam: Transitioning from the Traditional Learning Approach to the Blended Learning Approach

SHS Web of Conferences 124, 01003 (2021) ICMeSH 2020 https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202112401003 Teaching English as a Second Language in Vietnam: Transitioning from the Traditional Learning Approach to the Blended Learning Approach Ho Thi Thao Nguyen1, 3,*, Subarna Sivapalan1, Pham Hung Hiep2 , Pham Thi Van Anh3 and Nguyen Thi Mai Lan3 Centre for Excellence in Teaching & Learning, Universiti Teknologi PETRONAS Bandar Seri Iskandar, Perak, MALAYSIA 1 Center for Research and Practice on Education, Phu Xuan University, Vietnam 2 FPT University, Hanoi, VIET NAM 3 Abstract. Although blended learning (BL) has been utilized in English language teaching globally for the past few decades, it is a new phenomenon in the Vietnamese context. Little research has been done to simultaneously investigate how students and lecturers perceive blended learning implementation for English as a foreign language (EFL) teaching and learning in Vietnam, particularly within the higher education context. This study thus aims to investigate lecturers’ and students’ perspectives on BL implementation in an English Fundamentals course at a polytechnic in Hanoi, Vietnam. Data was collected via an online survey of 1500 non-English majors in the Fall 2019 semester and via interviews with 5 fulltime EFL lecturers. The findings revealed that lecturers and students had positive perceptions of BL. For lecturers, the implementation of BL impacted their teaching approach and shifted the teaching of grammar and vocabulary from face-to-face to self-studying grammar and vocabulary using online lessons, devoting more in-class time to practicing speaking. Students meanwhile revealed that BL helped them develop self-autonomy of learning. Keywords: Blended learning, English language teaching, Polytechnic 1. Introduction BL has been considered as an effective approach to make use of students’ lack of exposure to the English language both inside and outside English classes (Hoang, 2015). Regarding the pedagogies, the utilization of a BL mode might “enable teachers to respond to a wide variety of students’ learning needs, to scaffold learning processes, and to facilitate active, reflective and collaborative learning” (Rubio & Thoms, 2014). *Corresponding author: © The Authors, published by EDP Sciences. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License 4.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). SHS Web of Conferences 124, 01003 (2021) ICMeSH 2020 https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202112401003 To align with global learning trends, the Vietnamese Government decided to transform the education landscape in Vietnam from the traditional learning approach to the 21 st learning approach, via BL. BL targets to improve instruction, foster “active, creative and independent learning” of students (Vietnamese Government 2012). The studied institution, which is a vocational institution (mentioned as the polytechnic in this paper) belonging to one of the biggest information technology groups in Vietnam, has been implementing BL in their training programs since 2012. In 2012, English was the first subject to pilot BL at the polytechnic. The lecture slides were rather simple with the content transferred from textbooks to slides. These slides were later uploaded into the Learning Management System (LMS). This platform supported all forms of content, including learning materials, videos, audios, quizzes/tests and so on. Students with their own accounts could access online lessons and download learning materials as well as participate in online forums to study online lessons and complete all required exercises/activities before class by themselves. However, most of them failed to complete their tasks due to the lack of motivation, student engagement and interaction between instructors and students, leading to the temporary halt of BL at the institution in 2015. At the beginning of 2019, the wave of digital transformation in education rose at the polytechnic. Again, BL was chosen and utilized for many courses including English. However, there were a number of differences between the two versions of BL courses in 2012 and 2019. The 2019 BL courses had been uploaded into a new platform named Course Management System (CMS) that has more functions than the LMS in 2012. Each online lesson was followed by a quiz to assess students’ comprehension of the lesson. Face-to-face classes were used to practice and foster their communication skills rather than to evaluate if they completed the online lesson prior to the class. Mid-term and final tests (listening, reading, grammar and vocabulary) were attempted through the online system, and only speaking skill was tested offline. Little research has been conducted to simultaneously explore how students and lecturers perceive blended learning (BL) implementation for teaching English in general. Meanwhile, there have been very few studies of the perceptions of lecturers and students on BL implementation for teaching English as a foreign language (EFL) in Vietnamese educational institutions in particular. (see appendix) Therefore, the researchers conducted this study focusing on how the polytechnic lecturers and students perceive the implementation of BL at the institution. The research questions are as follows: 1. What is the status of implementing BL in English courses at the polytechnic? 2. How do polytechnic lecturers perceive the implementation of BL in English courses? 3. How do polytechnic students perceive the implementation of BL in English courses? Data was collected through individual interviews with English lecturers and an online survey with students at the polytechnic. 2. Literature Review There has been an increase in studies on blended learning in teaching English as researchers have been trying to utilize this model in teaching English as second/foreign language (ESL/EFL) (Albiladi & Alshareef, 2019). Accordingly, a number of definitions have been given to blended learning. 2 SHS Web of Conferences 124, 01003 (2021) ICMeSH 2020 https://doi.org/10.1051/shsconf/202112401003 Several definitions have been used to describe BL. It was first used in the corporate environment as “a strategy to support employees’ work and study at the same time” (Sharma 2010). Following this, “the use of BL was advocated in the educational setting as a result of the approachability of computer technology in and outside the classroom, the expansion of teaching methods supported by Information and Communication Technology (ICT)” (Hong and Samimy 2010), and the ineffectiveness found in fully-online courses (McDonald, 2008). For Partridge, Ponting and McCay (2011), “BL courses in higher education can be placed somewhere on a continuum between fully online and fully face-to-face courses” (p.3). In some instances, the distribution of course content taught online is used to define blended learning. According to Allen, Seaman and Garrett (2007) (...truncated)