Researchers have identified that "willingness to communicate" (WTC) construct plays an important role in second and foreign language (L2) teaching and learning. Although many studies on WTC have been conducted worldwide, it seems to be a nascent term in the Vietnamese context. The present study was conducted at a private university in Ho Chi Minh City-Vietnam (henceforth called PU). The study aims to investigate the students' WTC in EFL speaking classes; explore factors that influence their WTC; and propose strategies to motivate them to communicate in speaking classes. 195 first-year English-majored students and 5 native English speaking teachers (NESTs) were invited to participate in this study. Data was gathered through the employment of three instruments including questionnaire surveys, semistructured interviews, and class observations. The findings of the study revealed that a large number of PU students had a low level of WTC in English. Moreover, it was disclosed that students' WTC was affected by both individual as well as situational factors. Lastly, several vital strategies were put forward to help enhance the students' WTC. Based on the findings of this study, some pedagogical implications for stakeholders were provided.

Vocabulary is one of the most pivotal but complex aspects to English language students. To achieve the knowledge of English vocabulary requires students to have specific learning strategies.Using contextual clues is considered one of the essential strategies that can guide students to figure out the meanings of unknown words. This study, therefore, aims at exploring the effects of using contextual clues on English-majored students' vocabulary retention and reading comprehension at Bac Lieu University, Vietnam (henceforth called BLU). Sixtytwo second-year English majored students were randomly selected for the study and divided into the experimental and control groups. Quantitative data were collected through three instruments namely, pre-test, experiment and post-test. The results revealed that using contextual clues positively affected students' vocabulary retention and reading comprehension. This study is expected to shed light on students' vocabulary and reading's improvement through the use of contextual clues in Vietnamese context and in other similar educational contexts as well.

It is undoubted that teacher autonomy (TA) and learner autonomy (LA) are among the factors that affect the effectiveness of English teaching and learning in non-native English speaking contexts like Vietnam.  Investigating how teachers and students perceive TA and LA may be considered a valuable addition to the literature. This study, therefore, aimed to explore students’ perceptions of teachers’ practices used to foster LA and teachers’ perceptions of challenges they may encounter in fostering LA in EFL classes at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH)-Vietnam. Two instruments were employed to collect both qualitative and quantitative data, namely the questionnaire and interview with the participation of 12 EFL teachers and 160 first-year English majored students. The findings of the study revealed that most of the EFL teachers who taught the first-year students used practices through responsibility-informing and in-class activities to foster LA. However, the findings also indicated that the teachers encountered several challenges related to students, teachers and the context. It is expected that the findings of the study would partly contribute to the enhancement of TA and LA in English language education at HUTECH in particular and at the Vietnamese tertiary level in general.

Case series Patients: Male, 31-year-old • Male, 70-year-old Final Diagnosis: Extra-peritoneal foreign bodies Symptoms: Abdominal pain and fever Medication: — Clinical Procedure: Mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy Specialty: Radiology Objective: Unusual setting of medical care Background: Foreign bodies (FBs) in the intra- or extra-peritoneal cavity are relatively rare. The aim of treatment is to remove the FB to prevent chronic inflammation and/or infection. Traditionally, surgical management is necessary, as the detection and localization of FBs can be difficult. Mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy (Mini-PCNL) under the guidance of ultrasonography (US-guided) has recently been used as an alternative to conventional therapeutic options for FB removal. Case Reports: In this article, we report the cases of 2 patients with an extra-peritoneal wooden toothpick FB treated using the mini-percutaneous nephrolithotomy technique as an effective treatment for removing the FBs. These patients recovered quickly and were discharged uneventfully. Conclusions: Using ultrasound to guide mini-PCNL represents a potential alternative to laparoscopic surgery for the detection and removal of FBs, allowing the patient to recover quickly. This approach is simple, minimally invasive, and feasible under local anesthesia and should be considered as an alternative to surgery.

In the last decade, EFL educators have attempted to experiment with various teaching methods to discover more effective ways of teaching and learning English, including English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Such methods as outcome-based learning (OBL), project-based learning (PBL), or cooperative learning (CBL) have received a lot of attention. Investigating the benefits and challenges of these methods in different contexts is really necessary. The current exploratory study, therefore, aimed to explore students’ perceived challenges and benefits of integrating PBL into ESP classes with the ‘English for marketing’ course designed for students majoring in Business English at Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology (HUTECH). With the participation of 64 fourth-year students and the employment of three main data collection instruments including the questionnaire, student interviews and journals, the findings of the study reveal that the integration of PBL into ESP classes has brought more benefits to the students than challenges. Specifically, they could enhance their language and content knowledge, workplace-related skills, self-responsibility and motivation. Meanwhile, they mainly encountered challenges related to classmates such as lack of skills, English proficiency, and negative attitudes. It is expected that the findings of the study would partly contribute to the existing knowledge of the study field and shed light on the role of PBL in ESP education at HUTECH in particular and at the Vietnamese tertiary level in general.