General English Proficiency or English for Teaching? The Preferences of In-service Teachers

At the implementation level of the national project 'Teaching and Learning Foreign Language in the Public-Sector Educational System for the 2008-2020 Period', the Vietnamese Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) provided large-scale general English proficiency training for key English teachers and classroom English training for a pilot group of teachers. This research explores in-service teachers' perceptions of the usefulness of the training and of the changes which occurred in their classrooms as a result of the training. The findings have shown that although in-service teachers across different levels of proficiency appreciate both sets of training, they found classroom English training more relevant and practical to their teaching context. The results of the study also suggest that in contexts with insufficient numbers of qualified foreign language teachers, high proficiency standards for teachers compared with their current level of proficiency, and limited support for in-service teachers to achieve and maintain the required proficiency, classroom English training can be considered as a strategic choice and hence, should be prioritized.