Speaker
Description
This study investigates how English teachers in a Vietnamese educational context respond to emerging ESL-oriented expectations. Although recent reforms emphasize communicative English teaching, limited research has examined how teachers interpret such expectations before they are formally implemented. The study aims to explore teachers’ perceptions of ESL-oriented expectations and how these shape their professional identity and agency. It also examines the challenges teachers anticipate and their projected responses to these changes. A qualitative research design was employed, using semi-structured interviews with eight English teachers across different educational levels. The data were analyzed thematically to identify patterns in teachers’ interpretations, anticipated challenges, and projected actions. The findings show that teachers associate ESL-oriented expectations with communicative teaching and real-life language use, while experiencing uncertainty due to the lack of clear guidance. They anticipate shifting from knowledge transmitters to facilitators of communication, but foresee tensions related to exam-oriented systems, large class sizes, and uneven student proficiency. Although teachers express willingness to adapt, their agency is shaped and constrained by structural conditions and limited institutional support. The study highlights that teacher identity and agency are constructed not only through enacted policy but also through anticipated expectations, emphasizing the need for coherent support in educational transition contexts.
Keywords: teacher identity, professional agency, ESL-oriented expectations, educational change, Vietnam
