VietTESOL International Convention 2026

Standardized teaching materials are increasingly introduced in higher education to improve consistency and accountability. In EFL programs, however, such resources may reshape professional autonomy and teacher agency. This study examines these dynamics in a General English program for non-English majors at a Vietnamese university, where lecturers recently shifted from preparing their own slides to using pre-made materials designed by academic teams. Guided by Priestley, Biesta and Robinson’s (2015) framework of teacher agency, data were collected through semi-structured interviews with 20 lecturers and analysis of adapted slide sets. Findings show that lecturers drew on past experiences of autonomy to evaluate the new materials, made situated decisions in adapting them, and projected future hybrid approaches that combine consistency with autonomy. Adaptation strategies, such as reordering tasks, adding localized examples, or integrating interactive activities, were interpreted as ways lecturers enacted their agency within systemic constraints. The study extends teacher agency theory to Vietnamese higher education, offering insights into sustaining lecturer autonomy within standardized instructional systems.