THE CLASSROOM ENGLISH COMPETENCE OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHERS

Abstract

The project of “Improving foreign language learning and teaching in Vietnamese education from 2008 to 2020” by the Ministry of Education and Training has been placing its focus on the development of English language competence and English language teaching methodology for English language teachers at primary and secondary education. However, this article argues that
for the teachers to provide instruction effectively in English, the project should also consider the classroom English competence of these teachers apart from the two tasks above. Reporting the results from a questionnaire survey conducted among 488 English language teachers at primary and secondary schools located in four different areas in Northern Vietnam, this article reveals the limitations in the classroom English competence of these teachers. It also puts forward certain suggestions for the Project as well as for further studies aiming at developing the classroom English competence of Vietnamese teachers.