VietTESOL International Convention 2026

Responding to the 2018 Vietnamese curriculum reform, which emphasizes students’ competences and moral development across subjects, this study explored the factors influencing high school EFL teachers’ integration of moral values into EFL teaching through the lens of Basil Bernstein’s theory of pedagogic discourse. Using a qualitative research design, the study employed semi-structured interviews with nine high school EFL teachers in a context of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam. The findings showed that teachers’ integration of moral values was shaped by the interaction between instructional discourse and regulative discourse. Moral integration in EFL classrooms was characterized by weak classification and relatively strong framing. Moral values were integrated implicitly through communicative activities, classroom interaction, teacher modelling, and behavioural guidance rather than taught as separate instructional content, while teachers largely controlled classroom communication and students’ understanding of moral values. Curriculum pressure, time constraints, examination demands, unclear pedagogical guidance, textbook limitations, and school expectations often led teachers to prioritize language-focused instructional discourse over regulative discourse. In addition, teachers’ pedagogical confidence, teaching experience, instructional flexibility, and beliefs about holistic education and moral responsibility influenced how moral values were enacted in classroom practice. Consequently, moral integration was often flexible, situational, and dependent on teachers’ pedagogical judgment. The study highlights the need for clearer curriculum guidance, suitable teaching materials, and professional development to support moral integration in EFL teaching and the curriculum’s goals of moral education.