ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) TEACHING

Trần Quốc Thao; Phan Thị Nhân

doi:10.34238/tnu-jst.5739

ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE FACTORS AFFECTING THEIR ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES (ESP) TEACHING

About this article

Received: 22/03/22 Revised: 18/04/22 Published: 18/04/22

Authors

1. Tran Quoc Thao , HUTECH University, Vietnam
2. Phan Thi Nhan, Phuoc Thang Secondary School, Vietnam

Abstract

Being able to use English for professional purposes has played a vital role in the working world, so teaching English for specific purposes (ESP) has become a necessary part of vocational training programs. Nonetheless, the ESP teaching still showcases a variety of challenge per se. This paper presents the qualitative study investigating EFL teachers’ perceptions of the factors affecting their ESP teaching process at a vocational college in Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province. A cohort of six EFL teachers who were teaching ESP courses took part in semi-structured interviews. The collected data were analysed using the content analysis approach. The results showed that the positive factors (teaching facilities and teaching experience) supported and enhanced EFL teachers’ ESP teaching, while the negative factors (students’ poor English language proficiency and low level of motivation) deemed to prevent EFL teachers’ ESP teaching. These preliminary findings of this study could help EFL teachers and managers realize the real problems in teaching ESP to students, and find solutions to improve the quality of ESP teaching and learning.

Keywords

English for specific purpose; Perception; Qualitative study; EFL teacher; Vocational college

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DOI: https://doi.org/10.34238/tnu-jst.5739

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