Speaker
Description
In many Vietnamese EFL classrooms, the heavy reliance on textbooks and written exercises often marginalizes personalized oral interaction. Consequently, students lack a conducive environment to develop speaking proficiency and struggle to apply English meaningfully in authentic, everyday contexts. This study investigates the effectiveness of using personalized digital portfolios on the Google Drive platform to enhance middle school students’ speaking skills and communicative competence. An action research study was conducted with 60 eighth-grade students over a two-month period. Each student created a personal digital portfolio containing videos, audio recordings, images, and other learning products related to their interests, personal experiences, and daily life. Teachers used the platform to monitor students’ progress and provide formative feedback based on speaking criteria including fluency, vocabulary use, and communication confidence. Data were collected through speaking tests, portfolio analysis, and classroom observations. The results demonstrated significant improvement after the intervention. The average speaking score increased from 5.8 to 7.2 out of 10, while the percentage of students actively participating in speaking activities rose from 42% to 78%. Classroom observations also indicated greater willingness to communicate in both classroom and familiar real-life contexts. The findings suggest that digital portfolios can effectively support personalized learning and encourage more continuous and meaningful English use among secondary school students.
Biography
Nguyen Quynh Mai is an English teacher at Tam An Secondary School, Dong Nai, Vietnam. Teaching in a suburban public school context, she is interested in finding practical ways to move beyond traditional grammar-focused instruction and encourage students to use English more naturally in daily life. Her work focuses on communicative language teaching, learner-centered pedagogy, and the creation of English-rich learning environments. She has experience designing multimodal learning activities and personalized digital portfolios to support speaking development and increase students’ confidence in communication. Her current research interests include classroom-based innovations and technology-supported approaches that make English learning more engaging, meaningful, and accessible for secondary school students.
Bach Tuyet Nguyen is an English teacher at Tam An Secondary School, Dong Nai, Vietnam. Working in a suburban public school setting, she is interested in improving student engagement and creating more interactive English learning experiences beyond traditional teaching approaches. Her professional interests include speaking skill development, classroom communication, and the use of digital tools to support language learning. She has participated in collaborative classroom-based research projects focusing on personalized learning and communicative competence. Through her teaching practice, she aims to help students become more confident and active English users by applying practical, student-centered activities that connect classroom learning with students’ real-life experiences and everyday communication needs.
| Affiliate type | Vietnamese public school |
|---|