Towards an effective integration of ICT in an EFL setting in a Vietnamese higher education context

Abstract

This thesis explores English as a Foreign Language (EFL) university teacher experiences and practices of integrating Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in their teaching in a public higher education institution in Vietnam. The ultimate goal is to identify what makes their ICT integration effective and flexible enough to meet the needs and expectations of students and teachers in this context. To this end, a theoretical framework and methodology based on a critical realist ontology and focussed ethnography were adopted. The critical realist theoretical framework combines Bhaskar’s (1978) domains of reality (the real, the actual and the empirical) with Archer’s (1995) social domains (structure, culture and agency) in order to identify the underlying mechanisms driving EFL teacher’s experiences and practices in ICT integration as well as inhibiting and enabling factors influencing this integration. The focussed ethnography combines four methods of data collection (critical discourse analysis of policy texts, questionnaires, observations, and interviews) in order to obtain a complete picture of the phenomenon within its cultural context. Eleven policy texts were selected at international, national and institutional levels to examine what potentially, directly and indirectly shaped and influenced the teachers’ ICT integration practices and experiences. One hundred and thirteen (n=113) teachers from a cohort consisting of five departments and centres within the institution answered the questionnaires which yielded teachers’ self-reported ICT practices, and what encouraged and/or prevented them from integrating ICT into their teaching. Six EFL classroom teachers were observed to examine how they actually used or integrated ICT in their teaching and whether their concerns and the national and institutional concerns impacted on their actual practices. Thirty five teachers took part in one-on-one interviews (some before and some after the observations) providing further insights into inhibiting and enabling factors. This study shows that the drivers for an effective and flexible integration of ICT in a Vietnamese EFL university setting depend on how responsive, adaptive and timely teachers are to meet student needs and expectations. The most influential factors enabling individual teacher’s movement from potential effective and flexible integration of ICT to actual effective practices are their teaching passion, a thirst for further ICT training opportunities and networking opportunities. However, this study shows that it is not enough for leadership to provide a strong policy vision, it is also necessary to provide practical support for staff and tangible rewards to facilitate ICT integration. It is also necessary to communicate specific guidelines on how the vision and an appropriate pedagogy can be realised within the local constraints in order to ensure effective and flexible integration in the Vietnamese higher education context. Like the staff, institutions need to be responsive, adaptive and timely to staff needs in order to ensure they can meet student and government demands and expectations. This study makes two major contributions to the field of ICT in higher education and English Language Teaching (ELT). First, it opens up new approaches in the use of focussed ethnography in conducting an ICT-related research in the Vietnamese context. It also proposes the Responsive-Adaptive-Timely (RAT) model that can be used to facilitate an effective integration of ICT in ELT in this and similar contexts. The use of this model can potentially move educators, leaders and EFL teachers from a focus on merely using ICT and devices to being more aware of their own practices and the professional development required to unleash teachers’ effective and flexible integration of ICT.