TAILIEUCHUNG - In search of effective professional development of EFL teachers in Vietnam

The paper finally makes suggestions about how an effective PD program for EFL teachers and by EFL teachers should be designed and implemented in the Vietnamese context with sufficient attention to contextual factors. | IN SEARCH OF EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF EFL TEACHERS IN VIETNAM Truong Vien* College of Foreign Languages, Hue University, 57 Nguyen Khoa Chiem, An Cuu, Hue, Vietnam Received 22 March 2017 Revised 10 May 2017; Accepted 18 May 2017 Abstract: Professional development (PD) plays an important role in maintaining and improving teachers’ qualities and competences, but how to make a PD program effective in relation to needs in multiple contexts has still been a matter of much concern by administrators, researchers, and teachers alike. This paper therefore aims to deal with this issue with a view to assisting EFL teachers to develop their PD in an effective way. At first, the paper points out necessity of PD and some weaknesses in PD plans from EFL environments in Vietnam and uses them as rationale for discussion in the following parts. Then it starts xthe discussion by defining the concepts of PD and effective PD by different scholars that reflect the current trend of individualized and school-based PD, and presenting scientific evidence about characteristics of effective PD programs in the literature. From this scientific foundation, the paper finally makes suggestions about how an effective PD program for EFL teachers and by EFL teachers should be designed and implemented in the Vietnamese context with sufficient attention to contextual factors. Keywords: effective professional development plan, needs, PD tools, characteristics, EFL in-service teacher, research-based, school-based 1. Introduction The fact that English has been one of the most popular languages in the world is taken for granted. In the Vietnamese context, the English language has become the first foreign language in schools and universities (Le, 2002). Recently, the government has released a number of policies to improve quality of English instruction at all levels, and priority is given to language teacher profession. As a result, many professional development (PD) programs to improve .

• Giáo dục học
• EFL teachers in Vietnam
• Effective professional development
• Effective professional development plan
• EFL in service
• The current situation
• Professional learning communities
• EFL teachers at tertiary education
• Tertiary education
• EFL teachers
• Language proficiency maintenance
• Professional development
• Authorized institutions
• CEFR C1 level
• Learner autonomy
• EFL teachers’
• English asa foreign language
• Cultivate students’ autonomy
• Learning English
• Intercultural competence
• Intercultural objectives
• Intercultural teaching
• Teaching EFL in general education
• Pilot coursebooks
• Master thesis
• Master thesis English teaching methodology
• English teaching methodology
• English major students’
• Teachers’ perceptions