CULTURAL FEATURES IN ELT AT DALAT UNIVERSITY: CHALLENGES AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS

Abstract

Since Vietnam’s National Foreign Language Project 2020 was approved by MoET in 2008, the view of making foreign languages an advantage of Vietnamese students has increasingly required improvements in language teaching. It is then essential to pay attention to cultural factors for the purpose of effectively communicating in multi-cultural and multi-lingual environment. In an attempt to identify challenges and suggest solutions to the matter of cultural training, this study investigates cultural features in the two textbooks used by non-English-major students. The study participants were 109 freshmen, 148 sophomores, and 19 English lecturers at Dalat University. Questionnaires and interviews played an important role in collecting data which were then analyzed statistically and descriptively. The finding results revealed three main challenges in ELT at Dalat University: arousing students’ interest in cultural topics, orientating students towards unfamiliar culture, and instructing students in activities requiring certain knowledge of culture.