Speaker
Description
In many Vietnamese public primary classrooms, limited communicative use of English stems less from curriculum design than from entrenched interaction patterns that position students as passive respondents. By Grade 5, learners have accumulated years of formal instruction, yet spontaneous English use remains minimal. This classroom-based action research examined whether systematically restructuring everyday classroom routines could reposition English from a textbook subject to a shared medium of communication in a large public school context.
The six-week intervention was conducted in a Grade 5 class of 42 students. Rather than introducing new materials or increasing instructional time, the study redesigned classroom interaction through five coordinated shifts: institutionalizing English-only routines; embedding compulsory two-minute peer-speaking intervals in every lesson to guarantee universal participation; activating a functional language support system to scaffold real-time expression; rotating student leadership roles conducted in English; and systematically tracking communicative growth to strengthen learner ownership. Digital tools were integrated at a supportive level to enhance consistency and data collection without displacing face-to-face interaction.
Data triangulation included voluntary turn frequency logs, pre- and post-intervention paired speaking tasks, utterance-length analysis, confidence surveys, and classroom recordings. Findings revealed a fourfold increase in voluntary English turns (from an average of 6 to 24 per lesson), measurable expansion in utterance complexity, and significant gains in willingness to communicate across proficiency levels. Student-initiated interaction became increasingly normalized rather than exceptional.
The study proposes a scalable ecological framework for large EFL primary classrooms and demonstrates how redistributing communicative responsibility within structured routines can reposition English as a shared, functional classroom language.
Biography
I am a primary school English teacher with 18 years of teaching experience in public education. I have been recognized as an outstanding teacher at multiple levels and have made sustained contributions to the development and innovation of English language teaching for young learners.
In addition to my teaching practice, I am actively involved in educational research and have participated as a speaker at both national and international conferences. My work focuses on improving the effectiveness of English language learning through pedagogically sound, context-responsive approaches, particularly within resource-constrained public school settings.
| Affiliate type | Vietnamese public school |
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