Reflective Teaching Perceived and Practiced by EFL Teachers - A Case in the South of Vietnam

• Published in: International Journal of Instruction Vol. 14; no. 2; pp. 323 - 344
• Main Authors: Hung, Do Minh, Thuy, Pham Trut
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Gate Association for Teaching and Education 01.04.2021
• Subjects: English (Second Language); Feedback (Response); Foreign Countries; Inservice Teacher Education; Language Teachers; Observation; Professional Development; Reflective Teaching; Student Attitudes; Teacher Attitudes; Teacher Workshops; Value Judgment; Vietnam
• ISSN: 1694-609X; 1308-1470
• DOI: 10.29333/iji.2021.14219a

Reflective teaching (RT) is one of the core components of teacher professional development. Owing to its substantive importance in teacher education, this component has been long recognized and widely examined in various approaches. However, it is not the case in Vietnam. Thus, the present study was done to investigate how RT was perceived and practiced by a local group of in-service EFL teachers in an English language center located in Can Tho City, South of Vietnam. Data were collected via a questionnaire, followed by a semi-structured interview. Results showed that all surveyed teachers held a positive perception towards RT values in professional development, and practiced all three types of in-, on-, for-action reflections. Yet, in effect, they usually opted for only three strategies of workshop/training program, student feedback, and classroom walkthrough observation, while other RT strategies, such as journaling/diary-writing and video-recording, were scarcely used due to their workload-induced time constraint, fatigue, and limited knowledge of RT. Thereby, discussions and implications are provided.