Speaker
Description
The Vietnam policy on education is witnessing an important paradigm shift from English as a foreign language (EFL) to English as a second language (ESL) at almost every school in Vietnam in light of Decision No. 2371/QĐ-TTg (2025). While the policy revolves mainly around issues concerning curriculum, assessment, and national goals, the teachers’ beliefs, an important element affecting teaching practice, still receives little attention. This study, which seeks to explore how teachers enrolled in a Hanoi-based TESOL program perceive the feasibility of EFL and ESL transition and whether their self-reported practices reflect ESL principles, adopts a quantitative survey of about 50 participants in four areas: understanding of the EFL-ESL distinction, attitudes toward the shift, classroom practices, and perceived constraints. Preliminary analysis of seven responses show three trends: teachers value ESL-oriented pedagogy but doubt its practicality in exam-driven contexts; a belief-practice gap persists as test preparation and grammar teaching dominate; and in-service teachers arre more skeptical than pre-service teachers due to instutional pressure and class size. These early findings highlight the need to address belief-practice misalignment for Vietnam’s EFL-to-ESL reform to succeed.
Keywords: teacher belief, EFL-to-ESL transition, belief-practice gap, TESOL education
