This study investigates how an active language learner is constructed in the context of teacher education for teaching English as a foreign language (TEFL) in Vietnam, as well as the supportive factors and challenges in developing learner activeness in language learning.

The main purpose of this study was to examine the effects of strategy training in small group work on the reading comprehension of academic texts in English by Thai English as a Foreign Language (EFL) students. The strategy-training used was the Reciprocal Teaching Procedure (RTF) which focused on the four reading comprehension strategies: predicting, clarifying, questioning and summarizing. The research study was an experimental one using a single group design. The participants were thirty-four first year students enrolled in the English for Academic Purposes (EAP) program at a tertiary institution in the northeastern part of Thailand. Both quantitative and qualitative research methods were used. The pre-, post- and follow-up reading tests were employed for quantitative analysis. The students' performances were analyzed for statistically significant differences immediately at the end of the ten-week training and in the follow-up test eight weeks after the training. Qualitative data were collected from students' pre-, post- and follow-up questionnaires, checklists and journals, teacher's checklists and journal, and independent observer's checklists and field notes.

Recent years have witnessed many developments in the use of the communicative approach in language teaching. This approach aims at developing students' ability to communicate with native speakers of the target language. To achieve this ability, students are required to have not only linguistic competence but also communicative competence. That is why the students need not only the linguistic knowledge but also the background knowledge of the culture in which the language is spoken. Language is a part of culture. Cultural differences always cause problems for speakers of different cultures while communicating. Therefore, the " learning of a second culture is often a part of the learning of a second language " (Brown, 1980: 242 ) . Background Studies, including culture, used to be neglected or taught improperly in the curriculum of the Hanoi Foreign Languages College. In consequence, Vietnamese E.F.L students at the College have a poor background knowledge of the English speaking countries and their people's patterned ways of life. This causes difficulties for them when communicating with native speakers of English, even when they are studying at the College where culture-based textbooks and materials are commonly used. Therefore, Background Studies, including culture, must be seen as a separate and indispensable component of the curriculum of the College which aims at providing the students with the background knowledge of English speaking countries and with an awareness of their people's ways of life, their customs and habits and so on. Various techniques for the teaching of this subject are examined.

The purpose of this research project was to examine theories of learning, theories of teaching, and theories of listening comprehension with a view to developing and testing a computer-enhanced listening comprehension system for English as a Foreign Language within the Thai university system. In addition to carrying out an in-depth literature review, factors contributing to difficulties in the listening process were also carefully examined in order to build a sound foundation for dealing with listening comprehension. A brief history and analysis of Computer Assisted Language Learning were presented together with a review of some computer programs with the aim of determining their characteristics. An Individualized CELL Listening Comprehension Program was then developed on the basis of four theoretical frameworks: the Constructivist approach, the need to use authentic spoken passages, reduction of cognitive load and response to learner differences. The system was then used by twenty students of Suranaree University of Technology (SUT), Thailand for a period of fifteen weeks. Students were volunteers from different proficiency levels. SUT midterm and final examinations were employed, in part, to observe the effect of the program on proficiency levels. The SUT examinations, which were usually in a multiple-choice format, tested students on minor details through short, simple conversations. These tests might not fit entirely within best practice for listening but they seem to be a common way of measuring listening development in several educational contexts. Pretests and posttests examining global ideas and specific details in written and multiple-choice formats were then developed so as to provide a more accurate gauge of improvement in listening skills. Log files were kept in order to scrutinize in detail students� interactions with the system. Questionnaire and interview techniques were applied to seek out students� attitudes towards the program. The results revealed that the participants performed better than their peers in the same proficiency levels in SUT midterm and final examinations although the difference was not at a statistically significant level. However, posttest scores were better than those of pretest at a statistically significant level in most aspects except in case of the global ideas. The log files revealed that all students tended to focus on the word level by attempting to understand and decode every word in the transcriptions. This fixation is likely to explain the low global ideas scores. Analysis was complicated by the fact that some students were not able to use the program frequently enough, usually because of unexpectedly heavy schedules. However, the data extracted through questionnaires and interviews showed that most students demonstrated a positive attitude towards the various features of the program and felt that use of the program had improved their listening skills. In addition to findings relating to the development of listening comprehension, the study revealed that the majority of students felt that they did not think listening comprehension and, more generally the study of English, was sufficiently important to spend time on. This interesting but shocking discovery needs to be attended to immediately as it may have a strong effect on how Thai students prioritize their learning of English, and how this may impact on the levels of proficiency which they might subsequently attain.

Much research on reading comprehension has been done with native readers in mind; however, this study deals with reading comprehension problems for non-native readers - Vietnamese students of English. The study begins with a description of the interpreters and translators training at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College. Based on the aims and objectives of the training course the study emphasises the importance of teaching reading skills to Vietnamese interpreter and translator students in the first, second and third year. To deal with this problem, the study overviews relevant theoretical issues of reading skills presented in current literature with the purpose of relating these to the realities of teaching reading in a particular context in Vietnam. The study then looks at the main problems of teaching reading skills in the English Interpreter Department at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College. Focus has been placed on the analysis of some difficulties encountered by Vietnamese students reading English in an attempt to answer the pertinent question 'Why is it difficult for Vietnamese students to read English?' Consequently, the study considers ways in which the teaching of reading skills to Vietnamese students of interpreting and translating may be improved. The study is also concerned with the selection and development of materials and then proposes a reading syllabus in order to promote more rapid and efficient progress in the teaching of reading skills. Finally, the writer makes some suggestions about how to improve the situation of teaching reading to her colleagues in the EFL area based on her own teaching experience.

This field study concentrates on how to improve the reading efficiency of Chinese tertiary students of English as a foreign language (henceforth EFL) with particular reference to Bejing Second Foreign Language Institute (henceforth Erwai). The study covers the following aspects in five chapters. Chapter 1 reports and analyses the findings of the research done to identify inefficient reading problems in the Chinese EFL reading situation. Based on the analysis of the existing problems, the chapter comes to a tentative conclusion that teaching reading skills could be one possible solution to the problems. To prove the relevance of the conclusion, the second chapter turns to a critical review of literature about the nature of the reading process. The emphasis in this chapter is on the psycholinguistic perspective of the reading process and its relevance to EFL teaching in China. Related to the psycholinguistic perspective of the reading process, Chapter 3 moves to some more specific issues concerning reading efficiency. The discussion deals with various factors which can influence reading efficiency and points out implications for teaching in the Chinese EFL reading situation. Having considered reading efficiency theoretically in Chapter 2 and 3, the study turns to the practical teaching of reading skills in Chapter 4 and 5. In these two chapters, efficient reading skills are analysed and suggestions are made about practical classroom teaching. It is hoped that these analyses and suggestions will give some impetus to improving the teaching of reading in the Chinese EFL field.

<p>The main purpose of this study is to take a closer look at how teachers work with writing and to examine some theories on the teaching of writing. Five teachers in two schools are included in order to get an insight in teachers’ practical work with EFL writing. This has been done through classroom observations and interviews. The results show that all teachers seem to use aspects from several theories. The results also show that the teachers’ level of awareness of theories on teaching writing varies</p>

<p>English spelling is without a doubt a complicated matter, and learners around the world have trouble getting the letters right. My aim in this paper is to investigate what words are particularly difficult to spell for Swedish students in the ninth grade, what they think about spelling and English as a subject in general, and how important they consider correct spelling to be. In order to find this out, I distributed a questionnaire in two classes at secondary school. According to my study, a large number of the students find it important to spell correctly, and they also believe that their teacher would agree. A high percentage of the participants are positive towards studying English. Their most common way of getting in contact with English on a regular basis is via TV and movies. 97% of the students wrote that TV was their biggest source of contact with English. The results show no differences in spelling skills between the sexes and neither did the origin of the parents have any effect. The respondents find both Swedish and English spelling easy, but a number of frequently misspelled words have been identified.</p>

The main purpose of this study is to take a closer look at how teachers work with writing and to examine some theories on the teaching of writing. Five teachers in two schools are included in order to get an insight in teachers’ practical work with EFL writing. This has been done through classroom observations and interviews. The results show that all teachers seem to use aspects from several theories. The results also show that the teachers’ level of awareness of theories on teaching writing varies

The influence of reading ability on cross-language transfer in Mandarin-speaking ninth graders was explored. Each participant's native language (L1-Mandarin Chinese) and second language (L2-English) were assessed. Although the relationship between L1 and L2 reading ability has been discussed in many previous studies, few studies have examined this relationship among L2 readers whose L1 is sharply different from their L2, who are at the junior-high-school age range, and who are learning English in a setting where English is not used in daily communication (e.g., English as a foreign language). To investigate the role of L1 reading competence in the language reading ability transfer, a reformed public examination, called the Basic Competency Test (BCT), was applied in this study. The 30,000 Taiwanese ninth grade participants, randomly selected from the pool of the national examination involved in a consecutive six-year period, were considered as a whole and then disaggregated into six groups based on the year they took the BCT. A preliminary analysis was about reliability coefficients of twelve examinations (six in Mandarin Chinese reading, and six in English reading) used in the present study. Scores from both Mandarin Chinese and English reading comprehension tests were subjected to descriptive, correlational, and regressional analyses. Both correlation and regression analyses revealed congruent results that provided support for the positive influence of Mandarin Chinese reading competence on English reading ability, that is, L2 reading ability is dependent on L1 reading competence. The finding supported the Linguistic Interdependence Hypothesis. In addition, participants' gender and school district also played statistically significant roles to affect the cross-language transfer of reading ability, whereas the length of time in English exposure had no statistically significant effect on the language reading ability transfer. Thus, cross-language transfer in reading ability was influenced by learners' L1 reading competence, gender, and school district. This suggested educational policy makers in Taiwan that boost native-Chinese speaking students' Mandarin knowledge help support the development of English reading ability. Apparently, if students' L1 reading abilities can be built up more soundly, their L2 reading ability should be easier to acquire.