Speaker
Description
Student engagement has been considered a crucial role in an English classroom. Several viewpoints exist that student engagement decides the success of an English lesson. Besides objective factors, students have motivations or reasons for their engagement in an English classroom, especially in a TOEIC listening class. This study aimed to explore the engagement of non-English major students as well as their difficulties in learning TOEIC listening skills through task-based activities. The study was conducted as a mixed method which combined both qualitative and quantitative methods at a public university in Hanoi, Vietnam with the participation of 102 non-English major students. The data was collected through instruments of questionnaires, observation, and semi-structured interviews. The findings indicated that most students expressed positive engagement that included their behavior, emotional, and cognitive factors. Nonetheless, a small number of students were unmotivated or inactive in class. They encountered various difficulties focusing on the lesson and class activities, in which their poor command of the English language appears to be the main barrier to their participation in class activities. Based on those issues, several implications for both university teachers and students were suggested in this study to improve the active engagement of students in English classes, especially in TOEIC listening classes.
Keywords: student engagement, TOEIC listening, task-based activities
Biography
Pham Thi Thu Trang
English Lecturer
University of Economics – Technology for Industries
456 Minh Khai Street, Vinh Tuy Ward, Hai Ba Trung District
Hanoi, Vietnam
Mobile phone : 0904788832
E-mail: ptttrang@uneti.edu.vn
Pham Thi Thu Trang is an English lecturer at the University of Economics – Technology for Industries (UNETI), where she teaches English language to both English major students and non-English major students. She has experience in teaching the English language for nearly eighteen years to a wide range of learners with different levels of English.
Trang holds a Master’s Degree in TESOL from Hanoi National University – University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) with an outstanding result. As a life-long learner, she has always studied and applied various teaching methods to her students in order to improve their English language competency. She shows a strong passion for teaching and motivating learners. Besides teaching, she enjoys participating in scientific activities such as writing articles and submitting papers to international conferences. Earlier this year, for instance, she attended the 19th LaoTESOL International Conference with the theme of “Innovative Approaches to ELT: Teaching Methods and Assessment” on February 6-7, 2025.
Trang is an enthusiastic teacher and a traveling lover. Moreover, she is interested in volunteering activities, reading novels, and walking. She lives in Dong Anh District, Hanoi.
EDUCATION & CREDENTIALS
Certificate of presentation, 19th LaoTESOL International Conference, 2025
Certificate of presentation, 2024 International Graduate Research Symposium, 2024
Master’s Degree in TESOL, University of Languages and International Studies, 2023
Certificate of Teaching English to Speakers of Foreign Languages (TESOL), 2019
Scholarship – Teaching English to Young Learners, George Mason University, Five-Week Massive Open Online Course, 2019
Bachelor’s Degree in English language, Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam, 2010
