Impacts of Culture on Vietnamese Students’ Willingness to Communicate in English Classes: An Implication for Teaching and Learning Activities

Cultural differences are believed to cause difficulties for learners in second language acquisition. As an Eastern country, Vietnam has its culture distinctively different from that of Britain and other Western countries, resulting in some differences in the way Vietnamese learners learn English. This study aims to identify some distinctive characteristics of Vietnamese culture and investigate the impacts of Vietnamese culture on the willingness to communicate in English of non-English major students in English classes and propose some solutions to mitigate the negative impacts of the local culture on students’ willingness to communicate. To realize these objectives, the qualitative research methods are employed via the use of focus groups (conducted with 30 EFL teachers) and individual interviews (held with 30 non-English majored students) in different universities in Vietnam. The research findings indicate that the four distinctive cultural dimensions of Vietnam, including high power distance, high collectivism, high feminism and low uncertainty avoidance, have somewhat interfered in Vietnamese students’ willingness to communicate, resulting in their reluctance to raise their voice when participating in speaking activities in English classrooms. On the basis of these findings, some solutions have been proposed to EFL teachers, education administrators and students to help improve students’ willingness to communicate so as to enhance their speaking competence.