Exploring Vietnamese Teachers’ Pedagogical Practices in Integrating Skills in General English Classrooms

The integrated skills approach is widely recognized for its potential to enhance students’ English proficiency and foster greater classroom engagement. Despite the growing body of literature on integrated skills, limited research has examined how teachers have implemented this approach in a Vietnamese university context. This study explored the pedagogical practices of English foreign language instructors in integrating skills within General English classrooms. A mixed-methods design was employed, with quantitative data from a closed-ended questionnaire administered to 102 instructors who were selected through convenience sampling in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, and qualitative data obtained from structured interviews with 12 purposefully selected lecturers. The findings from both data sources converge, revealing that teachers’ application of integrated skills in the classroom remains limited, with their teaching practices characterized by traditional and inflexible methodologies. In the five teaching domains of integrated practice, instructors demonstrated competence in designing follow-up activities and selecting appropriate thematic content. However, they faced challenges in effectively implementing integrated teaching methods, activities, and testing. Furthermore, factors such as student attitudes and teachers’ skill levels were found to directly impact the effectiveness of integrated skills teaching. These findings guide the five domains for teachers to apply in classrooms and underscore the need for teachers’ training programs to support effective integrated skills teaching. This study advocates professional development programs to equip teachers with the knowledge and skills to implement integrated pedagogies effectively.