Confucianism and Folklore in Vietnamese Fantasy Short Stories: \u3cem\u3e The Case of Ghost Stories \u3c/em\u3e

Truyền kỳ, which is a genre of fantasy short stories, was formed and developed in the historic period of medieval literature of Vietnam in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. Despite being derived from a similar Chinese genre, the truyền kỳ of Vietnam was the work of the endogenous development of the national fantasy short story, which was closely associated with folk literature and historical prose. However, at the time of its inception, as well as at the glorious top of this genre, truyền kỳ had never been accepted as an official genre. It was rather a metaphor for unorthodox discourse in formal Confucian society. The reason is that truyền kỳ founded the first elements of folk narrative genres that were considered inferior and which Confucius advised Confucians to reject. Therefore, truyền kỳ deeply influenced Confucian doctrines, yet in this genre by itself, the deficiencies of Confucian philosophy related to the metaphysical world were exposed in competition with other non Confucian religions that had emerged, such as Buddhism, Taoism, and especially folklore. By analyzing ghost stories that represent the most typical case or expression of the complex relationship between Confucianism and folklore in the Vietnamese truyền kỳ genre, this article concludes that all the ontological crises of Confucianists that manifested in truyền kỳ derived from this tradition of folklore which created a minor discourse of a Confucian literatus who wrote on the periphery of official Confucianism

EFL STUDENTS’ DIFFICULTIES IN UNDERSTANDING BUSINESS ENGLISH TEXTS

Students who learn business or economics subjects might read different business texts related to their majors. However, many English as a Foreign language (EFL) students are still struggling with their reading comprehension abilities The objectives of the study are to identify students’ perceptions of common difficulties when reading Business English texts and to explore their attitude towards a number of solutions. The participants were ninety-six Business English students who enrolled in a Business English Reading course at a public economics university in Ho Chi Minh City. A five-Likert questionnaire and a semi-structured interview were employed to collect the data for the study. The results show that EFL students often encountered difficulties in reading Business texts. The most prominent factors influencing Business English reading comprehension generally are Vocabulary, Timing, and Background Knowledge. To address those issues, Business English students proposed six solutions regarding lexical and grammatical knowledge enhancement, regular practice, metacognitive strategies, participation in business courses, and online dictionary use. These recommendations collectively aimed to empower students in mastering the skills of Business English reading comprehension.  Article visualizations

SUMMARIZING STRATEGY: POTENTIAL TOOL TO PROMOTE ENGLISH AS A FOREIGN LANGUAGE (EFL) STUDENTS’ READING COMPREHENSION AT A VOCATIONAL SCHOOL, VIETNAM

This paper reports a study which examines how students perceived the effects of the implementation of the summarizing strategy on English as a foreign language (EFL) reading comprehension at a Vietnamese university. Using a descriptive design, a survey and interviews were undertaken with students who were learning English at a vocational school of law at a province in the Mekong Delta,Vietnam. The findings indicated how students recognized the role of the summarizing strategy although there were some problems they had to encounter while reading, namely vocabulary and grammar. The findings of this study give rise to pedagogical implications for teachers with regard to designing timely and effective techniques for optimizing students’ text comprehension ability over time.  Article visualizations

THE ARCHITECTURE OF VIETNAMESE TEMPLES – A STUDY FROM AN ARTISTIC PERSPECTIVE

The pagoda in Vietnam is an architectural work with many artistic values. The pagoda is a sacred space, and it gathers the cultural and artistic values of the Vietnamese people. In addition, it has satisfied the living needs of life, meeting the aesthetic needs of the people. The temple is the most complete collection of visual elements, closely combining and supporting each other in a unified whole. From an artistic perspective, the temple is the most typical architectural art of the Vietnamese people. The beauty of the temple is reflected in its sanctity. The art of architecture and decoration of the temple expresses the thoughts and feelings of the Vietnamese people. Besides, it shows the creativity and aesthetic aptitude of the Vietnamese people. The pagoda is a typical example, a uniqueness that creates the unique beauty of the Vietnamese people.  Article visualizations

Why and how firms conduct specific supply chain integration strategies? Considering the configurations of the customer order decoupling point and supply chain integration

departmental bulletin pape

TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS ABOUT ORAL CORRECTIVE FEEDBACK IN EFL SPEAKING CLASSES: A CASE AT COLLEGES IN THE MEKONG DELTA, VIETNAM

Corrective feedback has received much attention in language teaching and learning, including English as a foreign language. However, little research has been done with regard to college teachers’ perceptions about this area of interest in speaking language classes. The present study, therefore, focuses on teachers’ perceptions about oral corrective feedback and its types at tertiary contexts within a local province of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. This paper draws on data collected as part of a larger study consisting of questionnaires. The findings indicate that teachers had positive perceptions about oral corrective feedback. However, some considered oral corrective feedback as optional since they were concerned with learners’ uptake when provided with corrective feedback. Elicitation was the most favored technique, followed by meta-linguistic feedback. Furthermore, implications are also presented. Article visualizations

発展途上国におけるサプライチェーン統合のための多国籍企業とサプライチェーンパートナー間のコラボレーション：ベトナムのオートバイ産業の複数事例研究

Tohoku University川端望課