Hue University Journal of Science: Social Sciences and Humanities

MODEL TEXTS AS A FEEDBACK INSTRUMENT IN EXPOSITORY WRITING: EXPLORING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN VIETNAMESE EFL LEARNERS’ AFFECTIVE ENGAGEMENT AND THEIR WRITING PERFORMANCE

2024-12-10T16:29:08+00:00

As an alternative to written corrective feedback, model texts as a feedback instrument (MTFI) have been deployed to facilitate English as a foreign language (EFL) writing for almost two decades. However, past MTFI research mainly focused on narratives over a three-stage task including composing (stage one), comparing (stage two), and rewriting (stage three); expository writing still receives insufficient attention, especially in the Vietnamese context. Moreover, EFL learners’ affective engagement with MTFI and its relationship with writing performance are largely underexplored. This study aimed to address these gaps by employing a quasi-experimental design with the participation of 68 Vietnamese EFL undergraduates who were assigned into a control group (N = 33) and a modeling group (N = 35). While the modeling group compared their original draft with a given model in stage two and completed a questionnaire in stage three, the control group did not. The results showed that the modeling group significantly outperformed the control group in the overall writing score. Additionally, Exploratory Factor Analysis and repeated measure correlations revealed that the learners’ affective engagement with MTFI was generally positive, which was substantially associated with their overall writing performance. This study also entailed discussions on theoretical, methodological, and pedagogical implications that might be of great value to researchers and education stakeholders.

COHESION IN VIETNAMESE EFL ARGUMENTATIVE WRITING: AN ANALYSIS OF TYPES AND ERRONEOUS USE OF COHESIVE DEVICES

2025-03-29T08:34:55+00:00

The leveling up of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) academic writing necessitates multiple criteria, among which clarity and coherence earn a place. Such a criterion can be fulfiled by means of cohesive devices (CDs), tools that connect texts semantically. While numerous international studies have examined CDs in EFL writing, research focusing on Vietnamese tertiary contexts, especially in argumentative essays, is limited. This study, therefore, was set out to explore the use of CDs in argumentative writing by English-majored students in a university in Vietnam. A manual analysis was accordingly conducted on 30 argumentative essays, written under a 45-minute time constraint during a writing course, to investigate the frequency of CDs and pinpoint their usage errors. The results shed light on the distribution of CDs, wherein grammatical CDs reigned dominance. Among these, reference devices were the most frequently used items, followed by conjunctions. Advanced cohesive forms like substitution and ellipsis were scant, and lexical cohesion was confined to basic reiteration, predominantly repetition. Regarding errors, unnecessary addition occurred most often, trailed behind by misuse, omission, and redundant repetition. Reference, especially demonstrative reference, represented the majority of errors. These patterns are indicative of a reliance on foundational cohesion strategies and thus suggest instructional needs for broader CD usage to enhance writing coherence and ultimately academic proficiency.

EFL UNIVERSITY STUDENTS’ SELF-STUDY OF ENGLISH SPEAKING SKILL ON THE LANGUAGE LEARNING APPLICATION “CAKE”

2025-03-29T08:20:56+00:00

This study investigated how English as a foreign language (EFL) students utilized the language learning Cake for English speaking practice and identified the specific features of the application that they found most beneficial. Data were collected from students’ journals in five consecutive weeks and interviews with them. The findings reveal that the students conducted their self-study with Cake on their mobile phones or laptops, engaging in activities ranging from 15 minutes to two hours per session. In their learning, the students primarily used Cake to practice listening and speaking through video-based lessons with subtitles, employing shadowing techniques and repetition until achieving accurate pronunciation as assessed by the app's feedback system. They also completed quizzes to reinforce learning. The students found the application's realistic conversational videos, review features, and lessons on everyday topics like fashion, environment, and education particularly beneficial for their English speaking learning. The study suggests that Cake effectively facilitates self-directed English speaking practice by providing accessible, engaging content and immediate feedback, empowering learners to improve their pronunciation, listening comprehension, and overall communicative competence. This research provides evidence-based insights for educators and learners seeking to integrate MALL applications like Cake into language learning contexts.

VIETNAMESE EFL HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ PERCEPTIONS OF ORAL TASKS AND NON-TASKS FROM A TASK-BASED LANGUAGE TEACHING (TBLT) PERSPECTIVE

2025-04-10T04:26:16+00:00

This article examines Vietnamese EFL students’ perceptions of oral tasks and non-tasks as viewed from a task-based language teaching and learning (TBLT) perspective. Questionnaire data were collected from 188 students from a high school in Vietnam to understand their preferences and perceived importance of tasks and task engagement. The results indicated that these students reported a clear preference for free open-ended oral tasks than structured activities or non-tasks such as asking and answering, acting out a dialogue, and dialogue modeling. At the same time, students wanted to be provided with linguistic support such as vocabulary and grammatical structures and they also valued the importance of oral tasks for numerous reasons including their values for real world use/application, confidence enhancement, skills integration, and language use improvement. However, they reported a low level of task engagement due to many factors, of which, topics, teaching methods and students’ limited English proficiency were most frequently cited. In light of these findings, the implications for teaching EFL speaking and adopting TBLT in EFL contexts are discussed.

THE PRACTICE OF APPLYING DISCOURSE-BASED ACTIVITIES IN TEACHING WRITING SKILLS TO ENGLISH MAJORS: A CASE STUDY

2025-06-15T03:16:37+00:00

The purpose of this study is to investigate the practice of applying discourse-based activities in teaching writing skills to English majors at a university in Vietnam. For long, discourse competence has been considered a constituent part of different models of communicative competence and developing learners' knowledge of discourse is crucial in teaching language communicatively. Strong evidence regarding the positive impacts of discourse pedagogy on English-as-a-Foreign-Language (EFL) learners' overall English proficiency has been accumulated in different contexts worldwide. However, in Vietnam, there is a dearth of studies that explore the integration of discourse knowledge and implementation of discourse-based activities in teaching EFL writing. This paper presents an investigation into teachers’ practice of applying discourse-based activities in teaching writing to English majors at a university in Vietnam. It was conducted following the mixed methods design, with the participation of 30 teachers from four different departments of the university. Data were collected by means of questionnaire, interview, and class observation, and then analyzed both qualitatively and quantitatively. The results of the study reveal that the teachers utilized discourse-based activities on a relatively frequent basis, and the purpose of using these activities was mainly to teach the organizational and communicative aspects of writing, which is in line with the previous findings and suggests a firm correlation between teachers’ perceptions and practice. The conclusion and implications drawn from the findings emphasize the role of different agents (teachers, curriculum developers, course book writers, and educational institution) in promoting the integration of discourse-based activities in EFL teaching.

BUILDING THE ENGLISH-VIETNAMESE BILINGUAL CORPUS OF TOURISM AS AN ESP MATERIAL FOR STUDENTS FROM ENGLISH FACULTY, UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS, HUE UNIVERSITY

2024-12-13T03:56:10+00:00

Today ESP resources on tourism are of necessity and diversity such as English textbooks on Tourism, magazines, periodicals, newspapers, books, etc., which can be used in both electronic and printed formats. However, there is still no bilingual English-Vietnamese corpus on Tourism serving the increasing demand for students due to its convenience, ease of use, and vocabulary lookup as a reference in learning ESP of tourism and translation study as well . This article presents the building of the Engish-Vietnamese bilingual corpus of tourism used by students at ESP for Tourism classes at University of Foreign Languages and International Relations, Hue University (HUFLIS). This study was conducted in two stages: 1/Building the corpus during 6 months (January-June 2023) and 2/ Practice of corpus with the participation of 350 students during the first semester of 2023-2024 school-year. Qualitative and quantitative approaches are applied in this study with research instruments including questionnaire, and face-to-face interviews. The research reveals the current realities of students’ corpus use and their attitudes towards the benefits and challenges of using this corpus at ESP for Tourism classes.

GIVING THANKS BY GIVING BACK: THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN GRATITUDE AND PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AMONG PRESCHOOLERS

2025-04-03T09:50:40+00:00

Gratitude is a fundamental social-emotional construct that has been associated with prosocial behaviors. While extensive research has highlighted its positive connections to well-being and social relationships in adults and adolescents, less is known about how gratitude emerges in early childhood and how it relates to prosocial behaviors. This study examines the multidimensional nature of gratitude in preschool children, focusing on different aspects—expressing thanks, appreciating what one has, positive social comparison, and savoring the present moment—and their associations with prosocial behaviors such as helping, sharing, and cooperating. A sample of 478 preschoolers was analyzed using structural equation modeling (SEM) to explore these relationships. The findings show that appreciating what one has is positively associated with prosocial behavior, whereas other dimensions, such as gratitude expression and positive social comparison, do not demonstrate significant associations. These results provide insights into the role of gratitude in early childhood and its potential relevance for educational approaches aimed at fostering gratitude and social responsibility in young children.

MARITIME SECURITY IN THE INDO-PACIFIC REGION IN THE FIRST TWO DECADES OF THE 21st CENTURY AND SOME POLICY IMPLICATIONS FOR VIETNAM

2024-08-14T08:02:41+00:00

Maritime security has been in recent times emerged as a burning issue in international relations in general and in the Indo-Pacific region in particular. The Indo-Pacific is located on the coasts of the Indian Ocean and the western Pacific Ocean and the waters connecting these two oceans, including countries in Northeast Asia, Southeast Asia, South Asia and many countries in the Middle East and Africa. With topographical tectonics, this area includes numerous “choke points” on the maritime routes that have strategically significance for the development of international trade, playing an important role in oil transportation, gas and world goods from the Middle East to Australia and East Asia. Therefore, maritime security issues for the lifeblood of the world economy is particularly concerned by the countries in the Indo-Pacific region, including Vietnam. Through analyzing the reality of maritime security in the Indo-Pacific region in the first twenty years of the 21^st century, this article gives some policy implications for Vietnam in the coming years.

LANGUAGE TRANSFER IN NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ SPEAKING PERFORMANCE AT HUE UNIVERSITY

2022-08-08T01:14:14+00:00

Based on the common reality of transferring word by word from Vietnamese to English of many B1 students in speaking skills, this research was carried out to analyze the cases of language transfer in speaking performance of B1 students in more details and grouped them into different categories. This research also aimed to explore their perceptions of language transfer. The participants of this research were 83 non-English major students of B1 level at Hue University. Two main research instruments were language transfer cases analysis and interview. The language transfer cases were taken from the recordings of 83 students. Besides, 6 students also participated into some interviews. The findings showed that 65% of the students transferred negatively from L1 to L2 in their speaking performance, which proved that this is a common phenomenon among B1 students. In addition, there were 158 cases of language transfer detected in students’ speaking performances and they were categorized into 3 main linguistic aspects namely Syntax, Lexis and Discourse. Among them, students found Syntax the most problematic. Preposition and to be were the two subcategories that witnessed the highest frequency of language transfer cases. The analysis of the detected language transfer cases demonstrated the contrasts and differences in many aspects between English and Vietnamese. Through the interview, it could be found that students were unaware of their negative transfer, there are 5 reasons why they transferred and they acknowledged both the benefits and drawbacks of language transfer. Lastly, there were some pedagogical implications to enhance the quality of speaking performance.

AN EXPLORATION OF MULTIMODAL METAPHOR IN VINACAFÉ ADVERTISEMENTS: A TASTE OF VIETNAMESE CULTURE

2024-11-21T13:55:51+00:00

This study examined the use of multimodal metaphors in Vinacafé’s advertising campaigns from 2004 to 2022, analyzing how visual, auditory, and verbal elements combined to construct compelling narratives that resonated with Vietnamese cultural values. By utilizing Conceptual Metaphor Theory (Lakoff & Johnson, 1980), Multimodal Discourse Analysis (Kress & van Leeuwen, 2001), and Forceville’s (2009) framework for multimodal metaphor analysis, this research explored how Vinacafé’s advertisements transcended simple product promotion to act as rich cultural symbols. Through a mixed-methods approach of quantitative and qualitative analyses, the study evaluated the frequency and types of metaphors across different modalities and examined their effectiveness in shaping consumer perceptions. Findings indicated that Vinacafé strategically employed metaphors such as "COFFEE IS NATURE," "COFFEE IS LOVE," "COFFEE IS STRENGTH," and "COFFEE IS TRADITION" to reinforce brand identity, foster emotional engagement, and enhance cultural resonance. This approach provided valuable insights for enhancing consumer loyalty and developing culturally grounded advertising strategies.

Key words: Multimodal metaphor, Vinacafé, Vietnamese culture, advertising strategies, brand loyalty.

COMMUNITY-BASED TOURISM AND THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC, EXPERIENCES FROM SOUTHEAST ASIAN COUNTRIES

2024-06-24T14:43:17+00:00

This article aims to establish a theoretical structure, investigate the latest research trends, and highlight future directions in community-based tourism. A total 82 studies that investigatedthe relationship between community-based tourism (CBT) and the Covid-19 pandemic was analysed, using VOS Viewer software. It was found that five main research groups that focused on investigating the relationship between CBT and the Covid-19 pendemic were: (1) Impact and Adaptation in Tourism During the Covid-19 Pandemic; (2) Tourism and the Covid-19 Pandemic: Challenges, Strategies, and Recovery; (3) Studies on Tourism, Community Resilience, and Covid-19 Adaptation; (4) Sustainability and Resilience in Tourism During the Covid-19 Pandemic; and (5) Covid-19 Impact Studies on Tourism in Southeast Asia, with four key keyword clusters: Public Health, Sustainable Tourism, Sustainable Tourism Development, and Sustainable Resilience. It was also found that there has been a significant increase in publications from 2020 (3 publications) to 2023 (31 publications), indicating a growing research interest in this field. Indonesia leads with 54 publications, signifying its major contribution to this research area. These conclusions depict a dynamic and evolving research landscape, focusing on Southeast Asia, sustainable tourism, and the impacts of Covid-19 on the tourism sector.

VIETNAMESE PRE-SERVICE EFL TEACHERS’ ATTITUDES TOWARD COLLABORATIVE REFLECTIVE TEACHING

2024-08-12T09:03:15+00:00

English as a foreign language (EFL) teachers’ professional learning has been highlighted as a self-directed and collaborative process, which can be implemented through collaborative reflective teaching (CRT). Although recent studies have documented teachers’ attitudes toward various CRT activities, their attitudinal dimensions have not been comprehensively examined, particularly CRT experiences of pre-service teachers (PSTs) in teacher education courses. Thus, this study investigates Vietnamese EFL PSTs’ attitudes toward CRT, focusing on activities of co-lesson planning, peer observations, and peer feedback. Designed as a qualitative case study, the current research utilized semi-structured interviews to yield in-depth data from sixteen Vietnamese EFL PSTs enrolling in a teaching methodology course. The findings clarified teachers’ multifaceted attitudes toward CRT, encompassing their cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions. The majority of the Vietnamese EFL PSTs perceived CRTs’ merits in strengthening their teaching competence, critical skills, professional identity, and motivation, and they showed their interest and active engagement in CRT activities. Nevertheless, PSTs’ obstacles in limited inquiry skills, deficient teaching knowledge, and collaboration issues were also unraveled. Based on these findings, the study presents numerous implications for enhancing the effectiveness of teacher education and professional learning through CRT.