Australian Journal of Teacher Education - Article 3 - “Why I Don’t Teach as I was Trained”: Vietnamese Early Career ESOL Teachers’Experience of Reality Shock

Oct 15, 2026

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Trained intensively in teaching English for communication, beginning Vietnamese ESOL teachers often revert to traditional classroom practices focused on grammar-and-vocabulary exams. This mismatch is attributed to “reality shock” that many teachers face during the first few years of practice. The study examines how such reality shock shapes and transforms early career ESOL teachers’ teaching methodologies through an interpretative case study, identifying both external and internal contributing factors. Findings highlight policy, student cooperativeness, professional support, and teachers’ own competence, beliefs, and attitudes, with recommendations for assessment and development.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages18

Reading Time45 min

AccessFree to download

Introduction

National Foreign Languages 2020 Project and teacher training

Persistent exam-focused methodology and professionalism issues

Teacher theory-reality shocks and professional growth focus

Vietnamese context: limited induction and support

Australian Journal of Teacher Education | Volume 46 Issue 12 | Article 3 | | --- | --- | | 2022
“Why I Don’t Teach as I was Trained”: Vietnamese Early Career ESOL Teachers’Experience of Reality Shock
Vu Tran-Thanh
Phu Hoa High School
Follow this and additional works at: [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte)
Part of the Adult and Continuing Education and Teaching Commons, and the Other Teacher Education and Professional Development Commons | | Recommended Citation Tran-Thanh, V. (2021) .“Why I Don’t Teach as I was Trained”: Vietnamese Early Career ESOL Teachers’Experience of Reality Shock. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 46(12) . [http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2021v46n12.3](http://dx.doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2021v46n12.3) This Journal Article is posted at Research Online. [https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol46/iss12/3](https://ro.ecu.edu.au/ajte/vol46/iss12/3) “Why I Don’t Teach As I was Trained”: Vietnamese Early Career ESOL Teachers’ Experience of Reality Shock Vu Tran-Thanh Phu Hoa High School, Vietnam Abstract: Trained intensively in teaching English for communication, beginning Vietnamese ESOL teachers still follow the traditional approach in their classroom, i.e., teaching for grammar-and vocabulary exams. This contrast in pedagogical practices is caused by “reality shock”, which happens for most teachers during the first few years into teaching. The current study aims to explore how reality shock influences and transforms early career ESOL teachers’ teaching methodologies. It employs an interpretative case study research design to outline both external and internal factors that characterize reality shock. The results show that besides English education policy, students’ cooperativeness and professional support, the participants were also affected by their own pedagogical competence, beliefs, and attitudes. Recommendations for assessment policies, professional development and further research have also been put forward. Introduction The English language has recently been viewed as a predictor of future success and a gateway to global participation in Vietnam. The teaching of English to speakers of otherlanguages (ESOL) has, therefore, received special attention and enormous investment from both the public and Government (Le, 2019a; Ngoc, 2018) . An ESOL education reform, commonly known as the National Foreign Languages 2020 Project (referred to as Project 2020 hereafter), was established with the goal that by 2020 all school-leavers and university graduates would be able to communicate effectively in English (Ministry of Education and Training, 2008) . Regarding teachers as the key to success, the Government approved an allocation of 80% of the total budget of US$446.43 million for teacher professional development (Le, 2019a) . The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) has, accordingly, launched different training schemes, created a set of standards in teachers’ language proficiency and pedagogical competence, established an association for English language teaching and research (VietTESOL), developed a national standardized test and organized numerous conferences, workshops and webinars (Le et al., 2017; Le, 2019a; Le & Barnard, 2019; Ngoc, 2018; Nguyen & Ngoc, 2018) . Research, however, has shown that ESOL teachers’ teaching methodology remains unchanged as from the pre-Project 2020 period, i.e. primarily preparing students for the grammar-and-vocabulary examination (Nguyen, 2016), and neglecting the four language skills (listening, speaking, reading and writing) . Also, approximately 50% nationwide teachers have not reached the required standard of English proficiency (Le et al., 2017) . This issue of professionalism has triggered extensive research to explore the reality and provide professional support. While the contrast of ESOL teachers’ training content and classroom practices paradoxically exist side by side, how a

FAQs

What teaching approach do Vietnamese early career ESOL teachers tend to follow despite initial training?

They often follow a traditional exam-focused approach, teaching for grammar-and-vocabulary tests rather than for communicative purposes.

What does the study describe as the main driver of this mismatch?

The study attributes the contrast in practices to “reality shock” experienced by many teachers during the first few years of teaching.

Which factors does the research find influence early career ESOL teachers during reality shock?

It highlights external factors such as English education policy, student cooperativeness, and professional support, as well as internal factors including teachers’ pedagogical competence, beliefs, and attitudes.

Oct 15, 2026

Upload by Franzy