Lecturers’ Beliefs and Agency about Active Learning in English For Specific Purposes Classes

Abstract

This paper examines how English for Specific Purposes lecturers changed their teaching strategies that align with their beliefs about active learning at a Vietnamese university. There is a growing interest in making changes in tertiary instructional practices to involve students in active learning in response to increasing international contexts. Significant reforms of higher education in Vietnam have called for the quality of education, particularly foreign language teaching and learning. Thus, it requires teachers to change not only thinking about new instructional ways but also role shift in improving student learning. However, there is a paucity of research into how science lecturers perceive their practice changes as improving student learning in interactive and dynamic ways. This paper draws on data collected as part of a qualitative action research study including interviews, classroom observations, and planning meetings over three-semester periods. The focus of this study is on the data which examined how five lecturers perceived and implemented active learning strategies. The findings indicate lecturers' positive beliefs about the change process and their growing awareness of the need for role changes in their practices, thereby associating change with their agency in the change process. Pedagogical implications for policymakers and ESP lecturers are also considered.

A Systematic Review on ESP Teachers: Current Focus, Collaboration, and Sustainability

“…Only two studies made an attempt to explore the concepts of teachers' resilience (Estaji & Rahimi, 2014), and quality and relevance of ESP education (Kamberi et al, 2020). The other three articles merely concern teachers' beliefs (Cao et al, 2022;Nguyen, 2020) and factors influencing such beliefs (Yang & Wyatt, 2021). Estaji and Rahimi (2014) explored ESP teachers' perceptions of resilience in relation to their professional development.…”

“…The ESP teachers' beliefs that were elicited from teachers' perceptions on the concept of active learning (AL) in ESP classes were evidenced in Nguyen's (2020) work. This classroom-based action research aimed at exploring the five science teachers' beliefs about active learning as reported to be implemented in their ESP classes over a three-semester period.…”

“…ESP teachers can engage in peer-to-peer reflective learning, including sharing their difficulties, successful practices, and how contextual factors (e.g., internal political conflicts and classroom management-related issues) can improve their ESP teaching. Through such practice, ESP teachers can gain more self-efficacy which appears to be one of the most important elements in teachers' identity construction and agency development, teaching, and awareness towards long-term professional development (Ayar, 2021;Demirdöken, 2021;Nguyen, 2020). Problems related to materials in a certain professional domain can also be reduced when engaged in ESP peer support (Basturkmen, 2019) as all teachers are able to scrutinise the relevancy and appropriateness of materials to be devised.…”