English is the language studied by the majority of students at the Institute of International Relations in Vietnam. News broadcasts are used as teaching material since, for instance, graduates will need to monitor news broadcasts as part of their work. Students constantly encounter difficulties in listening to the news broadcasts on English-speaking radio. The purpose of this Study is therefore to identify factors which may cause problems for Vietnamese listeners to English news broadcasts. This Study presents the findings from questionnaires related to radio listening and the findings from an analysis of news extracts in English and Vietnamese. In the conclusion to the study implications for the teaching of radio broadcast listening in Vietnam are discussed.