Vietnamese Learners’ Performance in The IELTS Writing Task 2

IELTS is popular in Vietnam thanks to its reliability and applicability. Writing task 2 has been acknowledged to be the most challenging for IELTS learners. However, in Vietnam, not much research has attempted to investigate in an in-depth manner as to what are the problems, causes, and consequently the suggestions of such a notion. The research hence aims to investigate the phenomenon in a more thorough, empirical manner. To this end, the study employed the participation of 205 IELTS learners from two language centers in Ho Chi Minh city to provide their opinions regarding the problems, causes, and recommendations deemed the most pressing, acute, and beneficial, respectively. With convenience sampling and survey being the chosen research design, the research was quantitative in nature, producing numerical data as a result. Further analysis conducted via comparing the means of the items listed in the questionnaire yielded based on the IELTS band descriptors managed to discover a series of problems, causes, and suggestions considered the most relevant to the Vietnamese learners concerning IELTS writing task 2. The research thus served as the basis for teachers and learners of IELTS writing task 2 to identify the recurrent issues and provide relatable approaches.

A Case Study of Chinese Students Learning Thai as a Foreign Language: Flanders Interaction Analysis Category System

Interaction in foreign language classrooms has been regarded as a key factor in enhancing learning outcomes (Allwright, 1984; Ginting, 2017; Hanum, 2016). This study examined interactions in a specific university classroom context in Thailand where 28 Chinese students were learning Thai as a foreign language with a Thai teacher. It employed a mix-method design. Quantitative data were gathered based on a modified Flanders’ model (Flanders Interaction Analysis Category System or FIACS), and the qualitative data were gathered from classroom observations. The analysis of 90-minute video records and field notes from the observations of three classes reveal the domination of teacher’s talk (77.59%), and the minimal students’ talk (6.16%). Besides, silence time occupies 16.25%. Out of the total of 22 categories of interaction, no student talk can be categorized as an initiation of talk, and no teacher talk can be categorized as procedural lectures and assigning homework. Characteristics of the interaction varied according to the quantity and categories of talk. Transcription of verbatim from the videos reveals details of the interaction. Findings suggest that quantity, category, and characteristics of talk are interrelated and must all be improved together to increase the quality of interaction to affect student learning outcomes.

Students’ Perceptions of Video-based Tasks in the “American English File” Series: a Survey at People’s Security University

This study was a survey design conducted with the aim of exploring non-English major students' perceptions of video-based tasks in listening classes. The data were collected both quantitatively and qualitatively through two main research tools, namely Likert-scale questionnaires and semi-structured focus group interviews respectively. First, quantitative data was collected through the questionnaires delivered to 86 non-English major students with the use of Google forms to investigate how they perceive video-based tasks in the AEF series in terms of three components, namely Goals, Input, and Procedures. Then, qualitative data, which was gathered from two focus groups of student volunteers, was used to confirm and supplement the findings from the first tool. It was then discovered that the student participants' responses to the video-based tasks in American English File (AEF) series are generally positive. Moreover, students can improve their listening ability, have more motivation in listening lessons as well as better acquire real-life input from the videos.

The Speech Act of Apology by Filipino Call Center Agents

The Philippines is a global leader in business process outsourcing (BPO). Many foreign investors view the Philippines as a viable location for their call center operations due to the Filipinos' strength in English proficiency. This study focuses on inbound call center accounts that deal with a variety of call situations, ranging from information requests to difficult calls that require more time to handle, such as complaint calls. Since the goal of any business is customer satisfaction, this research aims to investigate how Filipino call center agents mitigate and reduce the liability and guilt towards customers. Results show that the 90 call center representatives have successfully produced 'perfect apologies' by providing all five strategies posited by Cohen et al. (1986) in most of their complaint calls. However, the sequence is distorted by emphasizing more on offering a repair. This leads to a recommendation that calls center training on apology be emphasized on building personal connections rather than a mechanical response to situations.

An Analysis of Negative Verbs’ Equivalents in a Vietnamese Translation of ‘The Call of the Wild’

Negative verbs in English are regularly translated into Vietnamese as không (Doan, 2010). However, in different types of texts and specific contexts, especially in literary ones, the equivalents of negative verbs are quite diverse and distinctive. This study aims to analyze the Vietnamese equivalent diversity of negative verbs detached from the classic literary work – 'The Call of the Wild' by Jack London (1903) (ST) and the translation ‘Tiếng gọi của Hoang dã’ by Lam Hoai and Vo Quang (2019) (TT). Based on qualitative and text analysis method, after conducting a process of splitting, filtering, and inspecting source and target texts, 164 negative verbs were detached from the ST and their matching equivalents in the TT; không and its variants were identified as the dominant equivalent pattern (72.6%). Particularly, some specific equivalents, which were the results of passive-active restructuring (1.8%), negative-positive replacement (6.7%), and other structural, lexical transformations (12.8%), have been investigated for conceivably affecting features of equivalent selections by translators. The obtained results would be a modest part contributing to the vast work of building an English-Vietnamese corpus. The matter plausibly concerns translation issues, yet the outcomes of this study could be applied to translation training and teaching reading comprehension.

Strategies for Translating English Passive Sentences into Vietnamese

This study examines some most common strategies for the Vietnamese translation of English passive voice such as “The use of markers ‘được’/‘bị’”, “Change to active”, “Paraphrasing” in order to find out the frequency and the rules for the use of those strategies by collecting and analyzing the data from the English and Vietnamese versions of a novel named “Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone” and a book named “A Brief History of Time”. And the findings of this study disapproves the view that Vietnamese active sentences are the dominant choice for translating English passive voice since its results indicate that English It-clefts or English agentless passive sentences where the agent of the action is unclear or concerned with generalization rather than specific individuals have a high tendency of being translated into active structures in Vietnamese while using a marker like 'được' or 'bị' and subject-less active sentences are the primary ways for translating other kinds of English agentless passive sentences into Vietnamese. Besides, the results of the research also indicate that the use of markers 'được'/'bị' is frequently applied to translate agent-included passives, but the position of the agent in Vietnamese sentences varies according to its features.

Determinants in Student Satisfaction with Online Learning: A Survey Study of Second-Year Students at Private Universities in HCMC

Due to the development of technology and the outbreak of COVID-19, many higher education institutions have employed online learning as a measure to the urgent situation. However, the sudden shift to complete online learning has a considerable impact on students. Therefore, maintaining student satisfaction with their learning experience is a significant issue for the stakeholders. From scientific perspectives, many researchers propose the importance of identifying factors influencing student satisfaction. Although many studies are dealing with this issue, few have succeeded in identifying determinants in student satisfaction with online learning in which online learning is a part of the school ecosystem. This research aimed at tackling this problem in the context of private universities in Ho Chi Minh city. Notably, 317 students from two private universities were involved in this survey study. The data were collected via online questionnaires and analyzed by using the PLS-SEM approach to examine which factors found in the literature were more dominant. The research findings indicated three determinants, including course effectiveness, providing knowledge and skills, and the sense of belonging. This result suggested that in order to increase student satisfaction with online learning in the current situation, these three determinants should be paid more attention by the stakeholders.

Navigating the Turbulent Time: A Qualitative Inquiry into Resilience among Vietnamese ESL Teachers during COVID-19

The aim of this study is to explore the dynamics of the resilience process among Vietnamese ESL (English as the Second Language) university teachers during the Covid-19 pandemic. Specifically, this study investigated the interactions between risk factors and protective factors at both personal and contextual levels that shape teachers' resilience patterns. Fifteen teachers from different stages of teaching career participated in in-depth semi-structured interviews in qualitative research design, and the collected data were analyzed by means of a two-cycle analysis procedure. Findings of the study revealed two major risk factors, including turbulence and ambiguity and decreasing autonomous motivation. Despite this, teachers drew on three primary resources to adapt to the abrupt changes: positive imaginaries about the future, sense of professionalism, and relational resources. Analysis showed that these protective factors were located across personal level and microsystems; however, there were missing links for protective resources at institutional level, mesosystems, and macrosystems. Taking cognizance of this, the study emphasizes the role of transparent policies and school leadership in bolstering teachers’ resilience in adversities.

The Effects of Collaborative Writing to Learners’ Text in terms of Writing Accuracy from Sociocultural Theory Perspective

Collaborative Writing (CW) has stimulated scholars for years in order to shed light on the effects of this kind of activity, and in terms of writing fluency, some researchers succeeded in stating that writing in groups affects the quality of learners' texts. Nevertheless, the previous studies have not provided fully spotlight on the field of utilizing grammar and vocabulary correctly when students compose text with peers. The purpose of this study was to review the effects of CW to the learners’ work in terms of accuracy from the perspective of Sociocultural Theory (SCT).

The Influence of Single-Clause Sentences on IELTS Writing Task 2 Band Score

This research aims to investigate the frequencies of single-clause sentences (SS) and multi-clause sentences (MS) used by IELTS test-takers in writing task 2 and the relationship between their use of single-clause sentences and band score in this section. The researcher used the descriptive comparative research design and the quantitative method design with convenient sampling with fifty (50) sample essays mainly sourced from the set of Cambridge English IELTS Academic books. After collecting the data, the researchers analyzed the data using statistical and descriptive analysis. The result shows that the percentages of single-clause and multi-clause sentences in the range between 0 and 6.0 bands are relatively equal. On the other hand, these percentages in the range of 6.5-9.0 have a significant difference. Additionally, the results of Pearson Correlation Analysis show that the frequency of single-clause sentences has an insignificant negative relationship with the IELTS writing task 2 band score. Therefore, IELTS writing task 2 compositions with more single-clause sentences are potentially graded with a lower band score.