VietTESOL International Convention 2026 foregrounds key conceptual and practical tensions, including how to balance World Englishes concerns with English as a Lingua Franca priorities in increasingly transnational communicative environments. The Convention welcomes new and contemporary research and practice that explores the multifaceted work of repositioning English from a foreign language to a second language in Vietnam and comparable contexts. Participants will engage in discussions on curriculum redesign, language-of-instruction models, learner support and inclusion, teaching methodology, assessment and accountability, teacher professional development, and technology integration, including the opportunities and risks associated with digital and AI-driven tools. The convention aims to shape the future of English language education in ways that are pedagogically sound, socially sustainable, and regionally and globally connected, while supporting the developing roadmap of Vietnam toward an ESL future. Abstract submissions are categorized into five strands.
Strand 1: EFL to ESL Transition and Language Policy
● Policy design and phased implementation for EFL-to-ESL change
● Stakeholder engagement and change management in schools and communities
● Equity, inclusion, and regional disparity in access to ESL opportunities
● School-based ESL models and expanded domains of English use
● Internationalization in higher education and workplace language demands
● Language ecology and multilingualism
● World Englishes, English as an International Language, English as a Lingua Franca
Strand 2: Technology and Second Language Learning
● Online teaching and learning
● Blended learning
● Distance education
● Technologies and AI-powered technologies
● Mobile-assisted language learning
● Technology and learner autonomy development
● Technology-enhanced testing and assessment
Strand 3: Language Pedagogy and Curriculum
● Curriculum development
● Task-based and project-based language teaching (TBLT/PBLT)
● Classroom management
● Testing and assessment
● ESP, EMI, CLIL, and EME
● Learning motivation, engagement, learner autonomy, and learner agency
● Intercultural competence in language teaching and learning
Strand 4: Language and Linguistics
● English linguistics and educational linguistics teaching
● Second language acquisition (SLA)
● Translanguaging
● Corpus linguistics
● Computational linguistics
● Translation and interpretation
Strand 5: Teacher Professional Development and Professional Learning
● Pre-service and in-service teacher training
● Professional development
● Communities of practice (CoP)
● Practical teaching contemplation
● Autonomy, teacher identity, and teacher agency
● Teacher wellbeing, workload, and sustainable professional practice
● Ethical and responsible use of AI in teaching practice and professional learning
It is important to observe the following guidelines before submitting your abstracts.
1. DETAILS OF PRESENTERS
Important details of the presenters such as full name, email address, and institution must be correctly entered into the submission system. The Convention only uses these details to communicate with the presenters. The presenters should also check their spam mail folder to ensure that the emails from the Convention are not missed. The presenters cannot appoint another one to deliver their presentations on their behalf. Only up to two proposal submissions are accepted by each author.
2. TITLE OF PRESENTATION
The title must:
- not exceed 15 words (each part of a slashed or hyphenated word counts as one word)
- not include presenter’s names, institutions, or titles of their published works
- capitalize the first letter of all verbs, nouns, adjectives, adverbs, and pronouns (For example, Learner Autonomy in Higher Education)
- not capitalize conjunctions, articles, and prepositions of fewer than four letters
- capitalize both terms of hyphenated compounds and the first word after a colon.
3. TYPES AND LENGTH OF A PRESENTATION
Keynote Speech (50 minutes): This is a plenary session. It aims to set out the convention scope, provide valuable insights, and create a sense of community among attendees. Only invited scholars can make submissions to this presentation type. Each keynote speech is delivered in 50 minutes, including 10 minutes for the Question and Answer section (Q&A).
Featured Speech (50 minutes): This is a major parallel session. It aims to address a particular issue closely relevant to the theme of the convention. Only invited scholars can make submissions to this presentation type. Each featured speech is delivered in 50 minutes, including 15 minutes for Q&A.
Oral Presentation (30 minutes): This is a parallel session, contributed by various scholars, researchers, and practitioners. It can be research-oriented, discussing the theoretical perspectives, methodological paradigms, and findings of a study. It can also be practice-oriented, discussing a pedagogical practice or a teaching approach. Each oral presentation is delivered in 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for Q&A.
Workshop (60 minutes): This is a parallel session, contributed by various scholars, researchers, and practitioners. It aims to demonstrate a teaching initiative or innovation for about 15 minutes before delivering a hand-on activity (activities) that can engage the participants to share, discuss, and produce some specific output. The activities might be a discussion about a heated topic, a simulation, a lesson plan designing attempt, a material development technique, a task design strategy, an action plan drafting process, or alike.
Poster (45 minutes): This is a parallel session conducted in the poster presentation area. It aims to serve as an important and interactive forum for sharing professional ideas and for receiving feedback. It is often contributed by practitioners and early-career researchers. A poster presentation is a visually explanatory exhibit that allows for short, informal discussions between the presenter(s) and participants. The poster presentation session is flexibly delivered in 45 minutes, depending on the audience.
Technology Fair (45 minutes per PC): This is a parallel session conducted in a designated technology-equipped area. It can be delivered at any time during the convention to cater to the diverse needs of the audience about classroom-based learning, mobile learning, or self- access learning. Each participant or group of participants is expected to experience a demonstration session up to 45 minutes only. The presenters are stationed in the computer lab space and the audience will ask questions and get hands-on experiences.
Doctoral Forum Presentation (30 minutes): This is a specific group of interactive presentations for research students to share and discuss their own research ideas and projects with each other and with experienced educators and senior researchers. The presenters are expected to be postgraduate students currently or have completed their postgraduate programs within 6 months. Each presentation is delivered in 30 minutes, including 10 minutes for Q&A.
Symposium (90 minutes): This is a major parallel session, aiming at bringing together three engaging oral presentations on the same topic, offering a comprehensive exploration of both theoretical and practical perspectives. It is expected that each symposium will facilitate a collaborative platform for critical discussions, knowledge exchange, and reflections on a specific focus of research. This is particularly suitable for Special Interest Groups or any team of collaborative researchers and and practitioners who would like to present different but interrelated pieces of their work together. All members of the symposium team should work together and nominate one coordinator who is in charge of leading the symposium. The submission of each symposium includes two parts, namely (1) the symposium abstract and (2) the individual paper abstracts.
4. ABSTRACT
Accepted abstracts are included in the Convention Book. They must accurately reflect the content of the presentations. Each abstract must be between 150-250 words. The abstract must
- accurately reflect what the presentation is to be about
- must include between 150 and 250 words
- not include presenters’ names, institutions, keywords, or published works
- not include acronym(s) or abbreviation(s) except the following:
- L1 (First Language)
- L2 (Second Language)
- CALL (Computer Assisted Language Learning)
- CBI (Content-based Instruction)
- EAP (English for Academic Purposes)
- EFL (English as a Foreign Language)
- EL (English Learner)
- ELL (English Language Learner)
- ELT (English Language Teaching)
- ESL (English as a Second Language)
- ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages)
- ESP (English for Specific Purposes)
- IEP (Intensive English Program)
- NNEST (Nonnative English Speakers in TESOL)
- SLA (Second Language Acquisition)
- TESOL (Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages)
- TEFL (Teaching English as a Foreign Language)
5. EQUIPMENT
When submitting the proposals, the authors must include an equipment request if necessary. This will facilitate the process of facility preparation for their presentations.
6. AUTHORSHIP REQUIREMENTS
A biography of each author, between 100 and 150 words in length, is required. Each biography must begin with the author’s full name. For example: John Smith is... While we always expect to receive all types of contributions from you and your colleagues, there are some limits on the authorship. Each individual may be listed on a maximum of five abstracts in total, which includes no more than two abstracts as the primary author. When two abstracts are submitted under the same author(s), the two abstracts should be of different type (e.g., one oral presentation and one poster presentation). These limits are intended to ensure broad participation and provide equitable opportunities for all members of our academic community. We appreciate your cooperation and understanding.
Please submit your abstracts here. Do not forget to use the abstract evaluation criteria here for your information, and keep an eye on the submission deadline here.
