Teacher and student attitudes towards recent methods of teaching and learning

The idea of implementing a variety of teaching and learning activities to the teaching and learning of the Language Teaching Methodology Unit at the Department of English, Ho Chi Minh City Teachers\u27 College has been proposed as a contribution to motivate the students in learning this Unit. These various activities, for example, guided reading, diary keeping, action research or task- based learning are quite new to the teachers and students and considered to be the recent methods of teaching and learning. This study has been carried out to let the teachers and students know what the recent methods are and see whether they think the methods are acceptable at their institution. It investigated the opinions of these teachers and students towards the various methods of teaching and learning to discover if they prefer the recent methods or the traditional ones. Their attitudes are the basis to work out effective strategies for the implementation of the new methods which will enhance their teaching, learning and professional development. . The research method is descriptive and the report includes the qualitative analysis of data collected through evaluation forms and interviews, as well as the quantitative analysis of the questionnaire. The findings indicate that all students and most of the teachers are aware of the benefits of the various ways of teaching and learning and find them acceptable in their situation. Only one of the three teachers expressed some beliefs about the appropriateness of the traditional methods in the teaching and learning situation in Vietnam. The report provides an insight into the attitudes of these teachers and students and prepares for the introduction of the various teaching and learning activities which are beneficial to the teaching and learning of the Methodology Unit and their language teaching profession

INVESTIGATING EFL TEACHERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF IMPLEMENTING ACTIVE LEARNING TECHNIQUES IN TEACHING SPEAKING

Active learning (AL) is widely implemented in Asia including Vietnam. However, to date, research on this method seems to be scarce, particularly in the context of Vietnam. This study aims to investigate teachers' perceptions of AL and its principles in teaching English speaking. In addition, the study also explores teachers’ attitudes about AL implementation and their concerns about applying this method to their teaching context. Ten teachers of English teaching at a university in the Mekong Delta, South of Vietnam participated in the study. A semi-structured interview activity was employed to collect data. The results showed that the teachers generally had a high level of understanding of AL teaching principles and showed positive attitudes toward the implementation of it. The results also revealed teachers’ concerns about implementing AL. In particular, three problems of large class size, students’ mixed language proficiency and time limitation were addressed. Accordingly, possible suggestions for a better implementation of AL in teaching English speaking in Vietnam and similar contexts elsewhere will be provided.  Article visualizations

Vulnerability of Rice Production in Mekong River Delta under Impacts from Floods, Salinity and Climate Change

This study sought to estimate the floods and salinity impact index and climate change vulnerability index for the rice farming provinces in Mekong River Delta. In both indexes, Tra Vinh province and the communes within it have the highest index value, followed by other coastal provinces. The estimation showed that the rice production in these areas are being threatened and will be worsen if there is no appropriate plan to cope with the changes in climate condition and extreme events. The results for the simulation model of paddy yield under different scenarios showed decreases in the paddy yield in Mekong River Delta. Specifically, the yield of Spring paddy decreases 6%, Autumn paddy decreases 2%, Winter paddy decreases 4% and Autumn-winter paddy decreases 4% in 2050. From these results, the climate change adaptation and mitigation policies in this delta is suggested to be focused reducing the exposure to sea level rise; upgrading the irrigation system for paddy planting since the coastal provinces have high rate of rain-fed paddy, vulnerability can also be reduced by enhancing the adaptive capacity of provinces through subsidizing and providing farmers with new paddy varieties which are more tolerant to salinity

EFL TEACHERS’ STRATEGIES AND CHALLENGES IN PROMOTING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS’ AUTONOMY IN VOCABULARY LEARNING

Learner autonomy is now regarded as a desirable objective in language teaching. The objective of the study was to identify ELT teachers’ strategies in promoting EFL high school students’ autonomy in vocabulary learning. Besides, this research attempts to find out the challenges that ELT high school teachers employ in promoting EFL students’ autonomy in vocabulary learning. A questionnaire and an interview were used in this study to find out the strategies adopted by the teachers in the current research as well as the challenges they face. The findings of this study revealed that English language teachers frequently promoted autonomous learners in their classrooms. They usually implemented different teaching strategies, which can be categorized into three groups involving students in a student-centered atmosphere; playing various roles in the classroom; and equipping students with the strategies to learn vocabulary. Additionally, the results demonstrated that teachers faced challenges such as learners' lack of independent learning abilities, rules and regulations implemented in schools, and teachers' lack of fundamental ways to promote autonomous learning. Finally, it is hoped that the proposed pedagogical implications will contribute to the innovation of promoting learner autonomy in vocabulary learning in the context of high school in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam.  Article visualizations

Increasing Technology-Based Driver’s Productivity Under Covid-19 Pandemic in Vietnam: the Significant Contribution of Consumer Behavior

Purpose: Ride-hailing service, after the emergence in Hanoi – capital of Vietnam in 2014, has experienced major development and gradually enhanced the inner-city travelling of citizens. This study aims at investigating technology-based driver productivity perception and identifying several important influencing factors during the period of COVID-19 pandemic   Design/methodology/approach: The samples of 370 technology-based drivers have been surveyed to collect significant data about factors impacting on worker productivity in Vietnam ride-hailing service. SPSS 26 software is conducted with two types of analyses, including descriptive analysis and statistical analysis   Findings: The findings indicate that social distances, service waste and customer behaviors possess significant impacts on worker productivity in Vietnam ride-hailing services. Several special concerned factors have been identified to raise driver’s awareness of productivity improvement in ride-hailing service.   Research, Practical and Social implication: Major implications can be suggested for improving driver productivity during and after COVID-19 pandemic, especially in term of reducing service waste and increasing customer behavior towards ride-hailing services.   Originality/value: Basing on research findings, the study becomes significant contribution to further papers as well as service managers to enhance technological driver productivity during COVID-19 pandemic.

Musculoskeletal Pain and Work-related Risk Factors among Waste Collectors in Hanoi, Vietnam: A Cross-sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are prevalent among waste collectors (WCs) in developing countries. AIM: This study aimed to investigate the prevalence of MSDs and the factors associated with the risk of persistent musculoskeletal pain among WCs in Hanoi, Vietnam. METHODS: A cross-sectional survey was utilized to study 468 WCs in 2017. The Örebro Musculoskeletal Pain Questionnaire and a questionnaire on demographic and work conditions were used to collect data. Descriptive and multivariate logistics regression analyzes were applied at a significance level of 0.05 to examine the factors related to the risk of persistent pain. FINDINGS: About 74.4% of the participants of this study experienced MSDs in at least one body region and 9.4% reported MSDs in all 10 body sites. The lower back was reported to be the most affected followed by the neck and shoulders. The risk of persistent musculoskeletal pain was significantly associated with age (odds ratio (OR) = 2.31, confidence interval (CI) = 1.05–5.09), gender (OR = 3.29, CI = 1.28–8.44), work hours (OR = 2.35, CI = 1.12–4.92), work shift (OR = 0.48, CI = 0.26–0.92), duration of poor postures of the neck (OR = 0.31, CI = 0.13–0.76), bent back (OR = 0.4 CI = 0.18–0.92) and for medial rotation (OR = 3.01, CI = 1.42–6.36), carrying heavy objects (OR = 2.94, CI = 1.15–7.48), and experience of work dissatisfaction (OR = 3.31, CI = 1.46-7.52), stress (OR = 7.14, CI = 3.14–16.24), or anxiety (OR = 6.37, CI = 3.07–13.21). CONCLUSIONS: High prevalence of MSDs among WCs and its association with self-assessed unfavorable work postures and work-related stress implies the need of mechanical and social support at work for WC to prevent the development of MSDs and persistent pain

Genetic diversity of Afzelia xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib in Vietnam based on analyses of chloroplast markers and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD)

Afzelia xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib is not only an endangered species in Vietnam, but also around the world. The wood of this tree species is very valuable as it is used to construct houses and high quality furniture. Habitat loss and exploitation of A. xylocarpa by man have threatened the population to such an extent that the number of mature trees of this species has dwindled to quite a low quantity. Declining numbers of A. xylocarpa in turn causes a constriction of the gene pool. Thus, it is very important to evaluate the genetic diversity of A. xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib in order to conserve and sustain the surviving population of these trees. 50 samples of A. xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib were collected from seven locations in four provinces (Gia Lai, Dac Lac, Dong Nai and Ninh Thuan) and used to evaluate the genetic diversity of these trees based on the analysis of chloroplast 16S rRNA, non-coding regions between trnH-trnK, trnD-trnT and psbC-trnS chloroplast genes using polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) and random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers. The data obtained reveals that the 50 samples of A. xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib have low level of genetic diversity, as supported by the fact that the genetic similarity coefficients of the trees ranged from 49 to 100%. At the similarity level of 49%, the 50 samples were grouped into two main groups. There was no clear local specificities of the samples as the samples from same locality were not found in same group. Due to low level of genetic diversity, low numbers of trees and scattered occurrence, setting up suitable conservation strategies are urgently needed.Key words: Afzelia xylocarpa (Kurz) Craib, genetic diversity, non-coding sequences, random amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) markers

Optical properties of As2S3-based suspended-core photonic crystal fiber

In this paper, the nonlinear properties of photonic crystal fibers (PCF) with As2S3 substrate were analyzed numerically. With the suspended-core design, we achieve an anomalous dispersion regime with one or two zero-dispersion wavelengths, which is flat and has a small value at the investigated wavelength. The high nonlinear coefficient and very low confinement loss in the wavelength range of 1–3 µm, in comparison with other publications, are the outstanding advantages of these suspended-core PCFs. The highest nonlinear coefficient (28,527.374 W–1·km–1), smallest effective mode area (0.593 µm2), and low confinement loss (6.050 × 10–17 dB·m–1) at the wavelength of 1.55 µm were observed in the PCFs with a fiber diameter of 16.07 μm. Based on the numerical simulation results, we proposed two optimal structures suitable for supercontinuum generation