VietTESOL International Convention 2026

Abstract
Artificial Intelligence (AI) integration into English for Specific Purposes (ESP) education is becoming increasingly prevalent in Vietnam and other countries. This study investigated Vietnamese university students’ readiness and beliefs regarding AI-powered applications for ESP vocabulary development, in relation to their attitudes and behavioral intentions. A mixed-methods design was employed, involving a questionnaire distributed to 160 non-English-major students at a Vietnamese university, and follow-up semi-structured interviews with 10 participants. Overall, the findings demonstrated high levels of students’ readiness across five dimensions, including technological and infrastructural readiness, AI knowledge readiness, affective/motivational readiness, linguistic readiness, and cognitive readiness.
The students also expressed relatively high levels of beliefs in the perceived usefulness and ease of use of AI-powered applications. As a result, these high levels of readiness and positive beliefs fostered favorable attitudes and strong behavioral intentions to adopt AI tools, as supported by the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM). Although this model was developed a long time ago, it remains valuable and relevant in the current context of applying AI in language teaching; therefore, its application should be further extended in AI-supported learning environments. Nevertheless, in the specific context of this study, both learner readiness and beliefs still have room for improvement through targeted enhancements. Finally, several practical implications are proposed to maximized AI-powered applications in enhancing ESP vocabulary proficiency within Vietnamese higher education contexts.
Keywords: AI-powered applications, ESP vocabulary, learner beliefs, learner readiness, Technology Acceptance Model, Vietnamese university