From corridor talk to Corpus: a methodological protocol for using informal collegial conversations as data in Vietnamese University teacher professional development

This methodology paper proposes a protocol for using informal collegial conversations as a primary qualitative dataset in Vietnamese university teacher professional development. Moving beyond interview-dominant designs, it treats naturally occurring professional talk as a bounded corpus rather than incidental chat. The protocol specifies operational definitions, exclusions, recordable windows, researcher positionality, consent-as-process, off-the-record practices, interrupted recordings, episode logging, transcription, translation, and proportionate abstraction to reduce re-identification. It also outlines an analytic pathway using reflexive thematic analysis with interactional sensitivity, so thematic claims remain grounded in what teachers accomplish in talk rather than detached statements of opinion. A worked illustration shows how this approach strengthens analytic warrant. The paper contributes a portable design logic for ethically generating, analysing, and reporting informal conversation data across university professional development contexts.