Effects perceived by Vietnamese B1 EFL students of extensive reading  on intercultural competence

Van Thi Ngoc Nguyen; Nam Thi Phuong Nguyen

doi:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.2.2746.2024

14(2)2024

Effects perceived by Vietnamese B1 EFL students of extensive reading on intercultural competence

Author - Affiliation:

Van Thi Ngoc Nguyen - Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh Province , Vietnam

Nam Thi Phuong Nguyen - Tra Vinh University, Tra Vinh Province , Vietnam

Corresponding author: Nam Thi Phuong Nguyen - phuongnam@tvu.edu.vn

DOI:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.2.2746.2024

Submitted: 14-04-2023
Accepted: 26-05-2023
Published: 15-03-2024

Abstract

Investigation of effective approaches for supporting students’ linguistic and intercultural competence in the process of learning English as an international lingua franca has generally been an issue of great concern for teachers and researchers in language education. The study considered how fiction reading and non-fiction reading supported students’ reading comprehension and fostered their self-perception of intercultural competence. The scaffolds were tested in a pretest-posttest design on 58 participants, and in a classroom-based setting. Two measurement instruments included a reading comprehension test and a questionnaire on students’ self-perception of their intercultural competence. Both groups made significant progress in reading comprehension. Fiction reading condition was also found to contribute to the higher self-perception of intercultural competence. Discussion of the pros and cons of the experimental design and suggestions for further research into extensive reading and speech act appropriateness are in the last part of the paper. The paper finally puts forward the suggestion that short literary texts of cultures around the world might be considered as one of the meaningful inputs in B1 EFL classrooms.

Keywords

EFL reading comprehension; extensive reading; intercultural competence; lit2go; speech act

Full Text:

PDF Appendix

Cite this paper as:

Nguyen, V. T. N., & Nguyen, N. T. P. (2024). Effects perceived by Vietnamese B1 EFL students of extensive reading on intercultural competence. Ho Chi Minh City Open University Journal of Science – Social Sciences, 14(2), 68-77. doi:10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.2.2746.2024

References

Adams, J. (1985). Pragmatics and fiction. Amsterdam, NL: John Benjamins Publishing.

Basturkmen, H. (2006). Ideas and options in English for specific purposes. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Bennett, J. M. (Ed.). (2015). The Sage encyclopedia of intercultural competence. Newbury Park, CA: Sage Publications.

Boutorwick, T. J., & Macalister, J. (2019). Two approaches to extensive reading and their effects on L2 vocabulary development. Reading in a Foreign Language, 31(2), 150-172.

Bovee, C. L., & Thill, J. V. (2000). Business communication today. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.

Boxer, D. (2003). Critical issues in developmental pragmatics. In A. M. Flor, E. U. Juan & A. F. Guerra (Eds.), Pragmatic competence and foreign language teaching (pp. 45-68). Castello de la Plana, Spain: Publicacions de la Universitat Jaume I.

Broek, A. G. (2001). Ideological controversies in Curacaoan publishing strategies (1900-1945). In A. J. Amold (Ed.), A history of literature in the Caribbean: English-and Dutch-speaking countries (pp. 375-386). Amsterdam, NL: John Benjamins Publishing.

Broughton, G., Brumfit, C., Flavell, R., Hill, P., & Pincas, A. (2003). Teaching English as a foreign language. London, UK: Taylor & Francis.

Burns, A. (2006). Teaching speaking: A text-based syllabus approach. In E. Uso-Juan & A. Martinez-Flor (Eds.), Current trends in the development and teaching of the four language skills (pp. 216-235). Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter.

Carrell, P. L., & Carson, J. G. (1997). Extensive and intensive reading in an EAP setting. English for Specific Purposes, 16(1), 47-60.

Cohen, A. (1995). Investigating the production of speech act sets. In S. M. Gass & J. Neu (Eds.), Speech acts across cultures: Challenges to communication in a second language (pp. 21-44). Berlin, Germany: Mouton de Gruyter.

Day, R., & Bamford, J. (1998). Extensive reading in the second language classroom. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

DiPietro, R. J. (1982). Strategic interaction from texts: Converting written discourse into spoken conversation. In W. Frawley (Ed.), Linguistic and literacy (pp. 387-398). New York, NY: Plenum Press.

Eur, D. S. (2013). Extensive Reading (ER) as a remedial program for problems in EFL reading: Benefits of ER, new insights, and justifications for the use of ER in Korea. The SNU Journal of Education Research, 55-89.

Fernandez, L. G. (2021). Translator competence in second foreign language teaching: Acquisition of intercultural competence. In L. Escobar & A. I. Moreno (Eds.), Mediating specialized knowledge and L2 abilities: New research in Spanish/English bilingual models and beyond (pp. 35-62). doi:10.1007/978-3-030-87476-6

Florida Center for Instructional Technology. (2023). Genres. Recieved October 10, 2022, from https://etc.usf.edu/lit2go

Ghosn, I. K. (2002). Four good reasons to use literature in primary school EFT. ELT Journal, 56(2), 172-179.

Grabe, W., & Stoller, F. L. (2013). Teaching and researching reading. London, UK: Routledge.

Han, J. (2010). Extensive reading conjoined with writing activities as an effective component of English as a second/foreign language (Master’s thesis). University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.

Kabir, R. S., & Sponseller, A. C. (2020). Interacting with competence: A validation study of the self-efficacy in intercultural communication scale-short form. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, 1-15. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02086

Klein, F. M. V. (2004). Culture in the foreign language classroom: Teachers’ beliefs opportunities and practice (Unpublished doctoral dissertation). University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.

Le, T. A. P. (2005). Extensive reading in a Vietnamese context. Teacher’s Edition, 17, 14-19.

Lee, H. N., & Mallinder, M. (2011). Role of extensive reading in EFL vocabulary development: Review and recommendation. The English Teacher, 40, 145-163.

Luong, T., & Nguyen, T. (2016). A critical analysis of intercultural competence development in 11th grade English textbook from the English as International Language (EIL) perspective. Paper presented at TESOL Conference, Seameo Retrac, Vietnam.

Mason, B., & Krashen, S. (1997). Extensive reading in English as a foreign language. System, 25(1), 91-102.

Mikulecky, B. S., & Jeffries, L. (2007). Advanced reading power. London, UK: Pearson Education.

Nakanishi, T. (2014). A meta-analysis of extensive reading research. Tesol Quarterly, 1-32.

Nguyen, L., Harvey, S., & Grant, L. (2016). What teachers say about addressing culture in their EFL teaching practices: The Vietnamese context. Intercultural Education, 27(2), 165-178. doi:10.1080/14675986.2016.1144921

Nguyen, T. T. B. (2022). Reading strategy taxonomies: An overview. VNU Journal of Foreign Studies, 38(3), 175-193.

Ngwira, F. F., Mapoma, H. W. T., Hong, J., Sariyo, S., & Kondowe, W. (2015). Intercultural communication competence and acculturation among international students in central China. Intercultural Communication Studies, XXIV(2), 61-83.

Pardede, P. (2011). Using short stories to teach language skills. Journal of English Teaching, 1(1), 14-27.

Pham, M. P. K. (2016). Intercultural communication in English language teaching at Vietnam USA society (Master’s thesis). Ho Chi Minh City University Of Social Sciences & Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

Reiter, R. M. (2000). Linguistic politeness in Britain and Uruguay: A contrastive study of requests and apologies. Amsterdam, NL: John Benjamins Publishing.

Renandya, W. A., & Jacobs, G. M. (2002). Extensive reading: Why aren’t we all doing it? In J. C. Richards & W. A. Renandya (Eds.), Methodology in language teaching: An anthology of current practice (pp. 295-302). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J. C. (2001). Curriculum development in language teaching. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Richards, J., & Schmidt, R. (2002). Longman dictionary of language teaching and applied linguistics. London, UK: Pearson Education.

Scollon, R., Scollon, S. W., & Jones, R. H. (2012). Intercultural communication: A discourse approach. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.

Seidlhofer, B. (2003). Controversies in applied linguistics. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.

Sercu, L. (2000). Acquiring intercultural communicative competence from textbooks: The case of Flemish adolescent pupils learning German. Leuven, Belgium: Leuven University Press.

Shadish, W. R., Cook, T. D., & Campbell, D. T. (2002). Experimental and quasi experimental design for generalized causal inference. Boston, MA: Houghton Mifflin Company.

Spencer-Oatey, H., & Kadar, D. Z. (2021). Intercultural politeness: Managing relations across cultures. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

Thieu, M. Q., Thai, D. C., Nguyen, T. V., Pham, Y. H., Ho, H. T. T., Thai, H. P. B., & Phu, C. T. H. (2019). EFL student-teachers’ perceptions and practices of intercultural communication competence in high school English language teaching: A case in a University in Vietnam. Paper presented at the fourth RSU International Research Conference on Science and Technology, Social Science, and Humanities, Rangsit University, Thailand.

Tran, T. Q., & Duong, T. M. (2015). Intercultural language teaching: Rethinking the objectives of English language education in the Vietnamese context. English for Specific Purposes World, 46.

Tran, T. Q., & Seepho, S. (2016). EFL learners’ attitudes toward intercultural communicative language teaching and their intercultural communicative competence development. Journal of English Studies, 11, 1-40.

Tran, Y. T. N. (2018). The benefits of extensive reading for Vietnamese EFL learners. Extensive Reading World Congress Proceedings, 4, 64-72.

Young, T. J., & Sachdev, I. (2011). Intercultural communicative competence: Exploring English language teachers’ beliefs and practices. Language Awareness, 20(2), 81-98. doi:10.1080/09658416.2010.540328

DOI: https://doi.org/10.46223/HCMCOUJS.soci.en.14.2.2746.2024