The contributions of Vietnamese learners of English to ELT methodology

This article reports a survey of 300 intermediate-level EFL adult learners’ views about the instruction they receive and of 15 of their teachers at the National University of Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. Its main focus is on how learners can contribute to ELT methodology. The article reviews the literature on learner cultures and perceptions in language education and on the contributions that learners have made and could make to decisions about classroom methodology. It also reports the conduct and the results of the survey and uses this to discuss implications for L2 classrooms in Vietnam and elsewhere, and to suggest pedagogic interventions that could help to facilitate learner contributions and cater for learner needs and wants. The survey indicates that the teachers (as reported in other similar studies) were largely unaware of what their students felt and thought about the methodology of their courses, and that the learners would welcome changes to the culture of their classrooms.