Interviewing an ESL Teacher at the 

Vietnam-Canadian International School 

 
I conducted the following interview with an ESL teacher currently teaching in Vietnam at the
Vietnam-Canadian International school and I have attached my reflection following the
interview.

What did you do to prepare yourself for teaching abroad?

I purchased books exploring the history of Vietnam and the diverse cultures present. I also
bought a dual-language dictionary and studied that prior to arrival. When I got there we had
2 weeks of orientation and training where we went over a lot of cultural aspects to teaching
here as well.

What courses are you currently teaching?

Grade 10 drama, Grade 12 UN sustainable development goals & ESL Level D

How do you teach grammar?

I teach at a bilingual school, so the Vietnamese teacher teaches grammar and vocabulary
and I focus on thematic and content-based learning (thinking in English, letters, Biography,
culture of media in English).

Do you have any policies on L1 language use?

They are always using L1 unless you tell them not to. The one time where I find where it was
successful was an activity learning about target audience where the groups were split into
two (one side consumer the other side was producers) Consumers fill out demographic
surveys and the other side picks their product and develops it and it turned into a gallery
walk—I had the producers come up with questions to ask the consumers—find out who their
target audience is ---During the activity they were speaking English the entire time.

When I’m not watching them they usually do not speak English but during this activity they
were speaking English the entire time regardless if I was right by them or not.

They were having fun and their prompts and scripts were in English (they were trying to be
silly and funny and wanted to explain their products with me as well).
Do you utilize any technology in class that has been helpful?

They use translators, I have a smartboard and a projector…there are no computers or

computer labs we do mostly written stuff but they can use their phones but they get distracted.

Phones are always with them for translations...it would be more helpful for there to be a
computer to learn how to structure digital essays and things like that?

Do you implement any Dual-Language strategies?

Vietnamese classes are bilingual and our classes are mostly English but one student made a
copy of her infographic in Vietnamese and then translated it into English and that was fine. I
just require an understanding but especially for creative writing I encourage both languages
to be utilized​.

How do you assess the level of your students?

I did ESL B before in my summer school and I knew where my B’s are at even though they
were adults whose circumstances were different but better conversationally…for ESL D the
first week students were left in their Vietnamese classes and they were given a
multiple-choice reading-comp and writing samples.

For numbers purposes (they don’t cap students here) they might shift students around based
on class loads (could have tested a C but have poor work ethic so placed in B)

How do you feel about these tests?

For listening and speaking they can’t really test using these tests when doing the
streaming…some people are low and have great conversations but the testing shows that the
reading

If you could change anything about the structure of the school what would it be?

More numbers of true streaming

More technology—translators
Dictionaries

The ESL level is meant to be streamed even though in Toronto you take B and you move onto
C but here you are in B and you get tested again at the start of every year to see where you
will be placed. I could still make a professional decision and help these students move to
where they will best succeed…a group of teachers look over tests.
Biggest challenge for your students?

They have no English conversation skills. The only ones who are good have travelled and
have a confidence in English it is hard to teach them phrase when the only English they are
exposed to is in my classes.

--English Resource teachers (ESL Specialists)

only the students who are at ESL A-B

How do you mediate these challenges?

Some of them are invested in pop culture…students know who people like Kanye West is,
choosing topics that students are interested in… only Vietnamese people where as other ESL
courses are diverse. This situation is so easy to switch back to Vietnamese. Right now it is
really slow-paced but I do see progress I have taught them how to do presentations and
structures of writing and I see how those have come along.

Reflection on Teaching ESL Abroad

I specifically wanted to interview a teacher who is currently teaching ESL abroad because of
the offers I have had to do so and in understanding some of the potential benefits/challenges
in doing so. This is a unique situation where this teacher is teaching the Canadian ESL
program because of the partnership school. It showed be the unique challenges this situation
presents in comparison to teaching ESL in Canada (she has done both and said comparing
them is like night and day). This was extremely informative and helpful interview in applying
some of the theories and practices we have learned throughout this course to a new and
international context.

How does the theory you have learned relate to the practices described?

Much of the theory we learned throughout this course can support the practices present in this
interview. I think the dual-language strategies and grammar instruction differ because of the
structure of the school where they are utilizing bilingualism in every area but encouraged to
focus solely on English in their ESLD courses. I also realized how important the theory
behind group work truly is as this was one activity that engaged everyone and the students
who are more proficient in English are able to work with different groups and promote more
conversational uses of English. This interview also confirmed how BICS can be much more
developed than a students CALP and is perhaps why reading and writing tasks are
highlighted in the testing. There are issues that the theory cannot cover in real practice like
the lack of technological assistance in her school and for these students to utilize to help their
language proficiency.

What were some specific challenges or issues identified?

I think learning English in an environment that is still rich in L1 language has its challenges
but on the upside none of the students are experiencing the culture shock that we have
discussed in teaching ESL here in Canada. Having a lack of resources was one of the larger
challenges and it is one we face here as well. A large part of this course has been sharing
resources (mostly digital) that assist ELLs so much in providing alternative ways of learning
and for assessment. Without these technological resources we can still assist ELLs but I think
technology offers so many more differentiated learning and teaching strategies than
paper-based strategies can offer. Another challenge is how to encourage students to speak
English when many of them are uncomfortable/only exposure they have is throughout the
school day and mostly in this one class. I think the strategies of collaborate and providing
rich language environments are helpful in all scenarios and again, I have this course to thank
for these tools and can see that my friend, who actually took this course last year, can apply
them in her context as well to better support these students on their journey to language
acquisition.

What did you take from this experience?

Language and cultural differences can create barriers, but that does not mean we do not have
the power to break these barriers down and build pathways in their place. Taking the
initiative to learn about a place, a community, a language and a culture should not be solely
placed on the language learners shoulders. We often get over-ridden with work and as a High
School educator sometimes well over 60 students, but I always have time to get to know my
students before and certainly continuously once they are in my classroom. All the theories we
have learned in this course can help support my practice as I see it has through this interview
as well and the practical teaching strategies is what I am taking with me as well. Throughout
this interview, I found how easy it was to discuss these questions because of how intensely I
have been working with them over the past few months in this course. This experience is a
rare one and one I may find myself in one day too but drawing comparisons on how
international partnerships are formed through education is essential. Language should have
the power to unite us, and never divide.