Teachers’ voices about obstacles in teaching ESP: A case study in Vietnam

Abstract

The current study investigates teachers’ perceptions of challenges in teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) courses in a public university in Northern Vietnam. The mixed methodology was utilized with questionnaires and semi-structured interviews to collect data from 43 teachers of English. The quantitative results were triangulated with the qualitative ones to understand ESP teachers’ perspectives. The results revealed that almost the participants raised their awareness of the importance of ESP courses. However, the findings indicated their difficulties in inadequate training for ESP lecturers, designing suitable ESP programs for various groups of students, and unequipped institutional classes. Furthermore, several recommendations were additionally highlighted for the practice of ESP teaching and to make it a beneficial learning opportunity.