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Description
The transition from English as a Foreign Language (EFL) to English as a Second Language (ESL)-oriented pedagogy has become increasingly critical in tourism education, particularly in emerging economies such as Vietnam where English proficiency directly shapes graduate employability and service quality. Drawing on teacher cognition theory, sociocultural perspectives, and professional agency theory, this study develops and empirically tests a structural model linking teacher beliefs, professional identity, and professional agency to pedagogical innovation and student-perceived communicative competence in tourism English education. Using survey data collected from 112 English lecturers in tourism and hospitality programs across Vietnamese universities, the study employs Partial Least Squares Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) to examine both linear and indirect relationships. The findings reveal that teacher beliefs regarding communicative and industry-relevant English significantly influence identity reconstruction and agency enactment, which in turn drive pedagogical innovation (e.g., experiential learning, VR/AR integration) and enhance perceived student communicative competence. Professional agency emerges as a key mediating mechanism translating beliefs into practice under institutional constraints. This study contributes to the literature by integrating teacher cognition with ESL transition in tourism education and provides actionable implications for curriculum reform, teacher development, and policy in Vietnam and comparable contexts.
Keywords: teacher beliefs, professional identity, professional agency, ESL transition, tourism education, Vietnam, PLS-SEM, communicative competence.
