The globalisation of education has reinforced the dominance of English as the primary medium of instruction (EMI) in higher education across Asia. While such countries as Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore have integrated English into both secondary and tertiary education, Vietnam continues to uphold a strong tradition of delivering its national curriculum in Vietnamese. However, the growing popularity of international universities within Vietnam, alongside the introduction of programmes with EMI in national institutions, has revealed a pronounced gap in students’ linguistic and academic skills, particularly in their ability to critically engage with academic content and comprehend oral input in English, which are essential for academic success in western educational establishments. This presentation reports on application of strategies designed to develop inferential thinking -an essential component of both critical thinking and listening comprehension- in the context of teaching academic listening in English for Academic Purposes classes at British University Vietnam. Most of the students at this institution come from local educational backgrounds with limited previous exposure to EMI. These instructional strategies aim to scaffold students’ critical engagement with academic listening content and to improve their overall listening comprehension, thus facilitating a smoother transition to an international academic environment. The study employed a combination of quantitative analysis of students’ diagnostic, formative, and summative assessments with qualitative interpretation of students’ reflections on their learning experience and progress. Findings indicate that focus on inferential thinking positively contributes to improvement in both students' academic listening proficiency and their ability to critically engage with academic content.

Authors:
Yulia Tregubova, British University Vietnam, Vietnam

About the Presenter(s)
Dr. Yulia Tregubova is currently an EAP (English for Academic Purposes) Lecturer and the head of the EAP department at British University Vietnam in Hanoi, Vietnam.

See this presentation on the full schedule – Thursday Schedule

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