FPT University students' attitudes toward studying English with Vietnamese and Foreign Lecturers

Abstract

English teachers are a crucial component in the process of spreading the English language all over the world. This study examined the attitudes of 86 undergraduate students at FPT University towards two different groups of teachers: native English speaker teachers (NESTs) and non-native English speaker teachers (NNESTs) which consist of local Vietnamese teachers teaching English and foreign non-native English speaker teachers (FNNESTs). Students took part in two stages of data collection which included both quantitative data (through questionnaires) and qualitative data (through interviews). The results indicated that Vietnamese students favored Vietnamese lecturers teaching English over NESTs and FNNESTs; however, Vietnamese teachers were not preferred in the term of pronunciation teaching to other teacher groups. Meanwhile, NESTs and FNNESTs were found to have their own strengths thanks to their ability to provide an exciting classroom environment, their diverse cultural backgrounds, and innovative teaching methods. In addition, the findings also exhibited the disadvantages of both NESTs and NNESTs as seen from learners' perspectives. On the part of the Vietnamese teacher group, their serious learning environment and traditional teaching methods were perceived as their weak points while the cultural and language barriers and their limited ability to understand learners and adjust pedagogy in accordance with learners’ abilities and learning styles were recognized as the main weaknesses of the remaining groups of teachers