Abstract

The Vietnamese government has implemented many changes to improve the English competencies of the Vietnamese people. However, the results seemed unsatisfactory because the English as a foreign language teachers had been affected by many external factors. Thus, this study addressed two main research questions, including (1) What external factors affect EFL teachers’ responses to English language teaching pedagogical reforms? and (2) How these factors affect different groups of teachers in light of their backgrounds? This study was designed as a mixed-methods approach using a questionnaire and semi-structured interviews to answer those questions. The current study involved 102 EFL high school teachers working in the Southwest of Vietnam. The results showed that the factor on students’ learning outcomes was the most influential external factor. Besides, the influence level of external factors was differed by the teachers’ educational qualifications in the influence level of some external factors, namely previous educational policies, students’ learning outcomes, and school facilities. At the end of this paper, some critical discussions, educational implications, limitations, and recommendations for further research are presented.

摘要

越南政府实施了许多变革以提高越南人民的英语能力。然而，结果似乎不尽如人意，因为英语作为外语教师受到了许多外部因素的影响。因此，本研究解决了两个主要研究问题，包括（1）哪些外部因素会影响英语教师对英语教学改革的反应？(2) 这些因素如何影响不同背景的教师群体？本研究采用混合方法设计，使用问卷调查和半结构化访谈来回答这些问题。目前的研究涉及在越南西南部工作的 102 名 EFL 高中教师。结果表明，影响学生学习成果的因素是影响最大的外部因素。此外，外部因素的影响程度因教师学历的不同而异，一些外部因素的影响程度，即以往的教育政策、学生的学习成果、学校设施等。在本文的最后，提出了一些批判性的讨论、教育意义、局限性和进一步研究的建议。