Enhancing 21st Century Skills among TESL Graduates through Service Learning Program
Mahani Mokhtar, PhD
University graduates are expected to be the pillars of every nation’s socio-economic development. First class human capital is expected to be the product of institutions of higher learning since the graduates have gone through the transfer of knowledge and skills in their fields of expertise. However, it is vital for 21st century teaching and learning approaches in universities to equip students with not just academic skills but also other skills such as generic skills, critical thinking and communication skills. This effort is implemented to enable graduates to contribute to the society once they graduate from universities. Thus the training of teachers in Malaysia should not be within the campus and schools only. 21st century skills can be inculcated through service learning program which require students to identify and understand educational issues involving people in their community. Service learning is a teaching and learning methodology which fosters civic responsibility and applies classroom learning through meaningful service to the community (Felten & Clayton, 2011). Thus, the program will give students the opportunity to transfer their skills and knowledge to solve the issues. Therefore, realising the potential of service learning in producing graduates with 21st century skills, UTM has chosen service learning as one of the teaching and learning approaches in UTM New Academia Learning Innovations (NALI). My keynote session will give me the platform to share how service learning is implemented in NALI and the benefits gained by TESL students who involved in the program.
Teaching Academic Writing Today
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Pham Vu Phi Ho
Academic writing courses are compulsory in most of English Majors at Universities. Different lecturers have employed different teaching methods and activities to train students how to write English well. However, few research studies in Vietnamese university contexts have investigated the teaching methods and activities that the lecturers have used to train students in the writing classes. This presentation is going to present some research studies conducted at HCMC Open University to provide the general picture to the audience about teaching methods and activities previously used at its Faculty of foreign languages and some innovative teaching methods which have been employed to enhance students’ writing skills. Research findings from these studies are valuable for lecturers to reconsider or reflect their own teaching methods at their professional contexts.
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Teaching ESP in the 21st Century
Le Lan Phuong, PhD
The 21st century is an era of globalisation and cooperation in which professionals usually work in joint ventures with others from different cultural backgrounds. Literature reveals that apart from (1) language knowledge, a professional needs to have contextual knowledge such as (2) participant knowledge, (3) social action knowledge and (4) global, institutional and organisational knowledge to ensure a successful professional communication. At present, not much is known especially in terms of the identification of the different kinds of knowledge taught in an ESP course, which can help to improve the teaching and learning of ESP for professional communication. Using a qualitative approach, this paper provides a comprehensive picture of the practices in the delivery of an English for petroleum engineering course in a Vietnamese university by drawing on document analysis, interviews, and classroom observations. The preliminary findings suggest that this course just focuses on teaching language knowledge, even on text levels, and ignores the other kinds of knowledge. Based on the findings, the author suggests modeling a professional communication-oriented ESP curriculum for the 21st century and also provide practical recommendations on the use of effective 21st century teaching and learning methods that enhance students' professional communication for the 21st century.
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Reshaping the Goals of English Language Education in the Vietnamese Context
Tran Quoc Thao, PhD
With its roles of an international language, a lingua franca, and a world language in the process of globalization, the English language has been globally used as a communication tool for different purposes such as business, travel, politics, and so on. As such, English language users should be required to act as intercultural speakers with intercultural communicative competence (ICC) who can function effectively and appropriately in a multicultural world. It is imperative, therefore, that English language education in Vietnam should shift its teaching approaches and objectives in order to meet the increasing demands of the acquisition of ICC. This paper endeavors to suggest the model, approach and objectives of intercultural communicative language teaching (ICLT) to be deployed in Vietnamese context. Additionally, the principles of ICLT are also discussed in an attempt to improve the current situation of English language education in Vietnam.
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