Van Loi Nguyen

Despite abundant research on teachers’ motivational strategies worldwide, scant attention has been paid to this in Vietnam. Thus, the current study aimed to investigate the high school EFL teachers’ use of motivational strategies reported by students and their attitudes towards these motivational strategies. The participants consisted of 416 students taught by 30 EFL teachers from ten high schools of eight provinces in the Mekong Delta. A semi-opened questionnaire was employed to elicit students’ report on the motivational strategies employed by their English teachers, and their judgments about the value of these strategies. Findings of the study indicated that the teachers frequently used top motivational strategies as reported in previous research. Such strategies were also judged to be motivating by the students. However, noticeably, the students highly valued teacher recognition of their efforts and a harmonious behaviour and ascribed these practice to their increased motivation. Other strategies were also suggested by students that teachers should use. The implication is that cultural differences mediate students’ perceptions, and that the EFL teachers in the context should attend to fundamental strategies, and the ones preferred by students.

Research on using project work in teaching various disciplines has pointed out a number of challenges facing teachers. Similar research in the EFL classroom, however, has been under-researched. This study aimed to fill the gap with a report on the Vietnamese high school teachers’ challenges in implementing project-based learning in the setting of curricular innovation in English instruction nationwide. The participants of the study were thirty-three EFL teachers from sixteen high schools in both rural and urban areas of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. With a questionnaire and an in-depth interview, both quantitative and qualitative data were collected. Data analysis indicated that the teachers faced major challenges in time management, adaptation of project activities, student support, and project assessment. These results provide useful implications for how innovative approaches can be successfully implemented, especially with respect to the kind of support EFL teachers need to make project-based learning more feasible in the Vietnamese educational context and similar ones.