In Vietnam today there is an urgent demand for well-designed tests of listening comprehension. Little attention has been given to this problem. This field study is intended to provide guidance on the design of listening comprehension tests and in particular for intermediate level students at the Hanoi Foreign Language College (HFLC). The Field Study Report consists of six chapters. Chapter One gives a brief introduction which covers the problem, aims, subjects (testees) and the background of the Field Study Report. Chapter Two deals with the purposes of testing in some detail, setting this in the framework of the teaching-testing link, teachers and testing, and students and testing. Test characteristics are considered and the problem of sampling for test content is addressed. Chapter Three concerns test items for listening comprehension. The chapter begins with a short description of listening comprehension and is followed by a survey of theorists on listening comprehension together with the test items for listening that they suggest. Some commonly-used standardised tests and their listening items are discussed. The chapter ends with a checklist of selected listening items suitable for students at HFLC in Vietnam. Chapter Four discusses the designing and trialling of test items for listening comprehension, such as multiple choice, completion of a taped talk, matching pictures with statements etc. The chapter presents the results of the trialling of sample items and also deals with correlations between the sample tests used. Chapter Five deals with test design and development in general. It clarifies the bases for test design and provides a checklist of steps in the development of tests. In addition, the chapter includes a resources inventory for listening test items. Chapter Six presents the conclusions of the Field Study Report.

English has been taught in Vietnam for about forty years and the number of English learners increases every year. Whatever the course of teaching English may be, the teaching of pronunciation is always a beginning part of it. The materials used in teaching pronunciation vary from schools to colleges, but the way of teaching is always the same. It means that students have to imitate what the teachers have pronounced with a very simple explanation of how to pronounce it. This causes great problems, because not all teachers have correct pronunciation and not all students can imitate the teachers in the right way. At the Hanoi Foreign Languages College, students are trained to be teachers of English. They not only need to have correct pronunciation, but also need to know how to pronounce sounds. In order to teach pronunciation effectively, they need to have a certain knowledge of phonetics and know the difference and similarity between the sound systems of English and Vietnamese. To help awareness of the necessity of good pronunciation and the present problems associated with teaching it, this report: a/ points out the importance of teaching English pronunciation in teaching English; b/ gives an overview of English teaching in general and the teaching of pronunciation in particular. To improve the teaching of pronunciation at the Hanoi Foreign Languages College, this report: c/ makes a comparison between sound systems of English and Vietnamese; d/ proposes material for the teaching of pronunciation for the Vietnamese students of the Hanoi Foreign Languages College, bearing in mind the context of the Vietnamese teaching and learning situation. It is hoped that this report will be of practical use: for teachers and students in the Hanoi Foreign Languages College.

This study examines the problems of constructing and administering a test of spoken English for Vietnamese EFL teacher-trainees. In an attempt to standardize the assessment, a planned oral interview was pilottested with a group of ten Vietnamese EFL teachers currently enrolled in a Graduate Diploma Course in TESOL at the Canberra College of Advanced Education, Australia. Results of the study indicate that the validity and reliability of such measurement can be achieved if certain carefully outlined procedures in planning the test and training the testers are carefully followed. Given the close relationship between testing and teaching, it is suggested in this study that there could be an improvement in the teaching of spoken English to Vietnamese EFL teacher-trainees if (i) the amount of time allocated to testing oral proficiency in the curriculum was increased, (ii) Vietnamese EFL teachers were provided with formal training in language test construction, and (iii) research on EFL oral testing was encouraged. Further, this study recommends co-operation between TEFL institutions in Vietnam to develop standard instruments for the assessment of spoken English of EFL teacher-trainees on a national level.

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.

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.