EFL Teachers as
Researchers Seminar
Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, 14-15 October 2004
(2004.11.11) Brad Baurain
Twenty-five participants gathered in a British Council seminar room in
Ho Chi Minh City for the first-ever ELTeCS event in Vietnam, a workshop
on “Teachers as Researchers.” Nguyen Thi Hoai An, a freelance
teacher and trainer who organized the event, began the October 14-15
seminar by highlighting the goal of raising awareness of the
feasibility and importance of classroom research by teachers. In
keeping with the ELTeCS purpose of networking and partnerships (East
Asia region), participants had been invited not only from Vietnam, but
also from Malaysia, Hong Kong, Cambodia, Japan, and Thailand. The
British Council provided logistical support for the event (including
excellent Vietnamese dinners!) and Oxford University Press also funded
three participants.
An and her colleague, Doan Kim Khanh of the Ho Chi Minh
City University of Foreign Languages and Information Technology,
presented the results of a survey of 200 Vietnamese teachers on the
workshop’s topic. While many are interested in doing classroom
research and have positive attitudes towards it, the barriers—including
lack of time, resources, institutional support, and theoretical
knowledge—are formidable. Participants from Malaysia, Japan, and
Thailand also gave brief overviews of the state of classroom research
in their contexts.
Le Thi Anh Phuong of Nha Trang Teacher Training College
followed up on these reports with a presentation reviewing an action
research initiative recently undertaken in three-year teachers’
colleges in Vietnam by the Vietnam-Australia Training (VAT)
Project. The initiative ended with some success or achievement in
the areas of professional awareness, teaching skills, and research
skills. But it encountered numerous problems, including teachers’
heavy workloads, contextually inappropriate training (by the VAT
Project), lack of resources and facilities, inappropriate supervision
(by colleges), lack of reflective/analytic skills, inability to
implement communicative methods, inability to do research, and an
attitude that research was a luxury. “Gloomy but honest” was how
one Vietnamese participant described Phuong’s presentation.
Other presentations during the two-day seminar included:
• Khau Huu Phuoc, Ho Chi Minh City University of Education, gave
a talk on “Learning English the Musical Way” and also served as the
official photographer for the workshop.
• Jonathan Aliponga, Kansai University of International Studies
(Japan), described a project in which he addressed the unexpected
challenge of low writing skills in an advanced writing class.
• Ruth Ming Har Wong, Open University of Hong Kong, presented
the results of a survey done with primary and secondary teachers on the
feasibility of action research.
• Peter Leonard, Headmaster of Englishville, described research
he had done into “The Best Method of Error Correction for Vietnamese
Writing Students.” His presentation was later chosen by
participants as the most interesting one given during the seminar.
• Phillip K.W. Chan, Open University of Hong Kong, presented the
unfinished results of a project for which he has been a consultant, on
generating productive ideas for self-expression and language arts
in language learning contexts.
• Wareesiri Singhasiri and Sonthida Keyuravong, King Mongkut’s
University of Technology (Thailand), described and discussed the
purposes, methods, and practical aspects of conducting collaborative
classroom or action research.
The first of the two days ended with written reflections,
posted for all to read. These showed enthusiasm for the topic and
a friendly, collegial spirit among the participants. While some
were skeptical about the value or feasibility of classroom research in
Vietnam at present, one teacher was honest enough to say she hoped her
attitude would change by the end of the second day. The seminar
concluded with a brainstorming time for follow-up research projects,
plans for a Website and group e-discussion list, and tentative plans
for another workshop next year.
This article was adapted from ELTeCS
reports filed by Nguyen Thi Hoai An, Brad Baurain, and Chamroeun
Koun. For more information on ELTeCS, please go to: http://www.britishcouncil.org/eltecs.htm
