IN SEARCH OF EFFECTIVE PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT OF EFL TEACHERS IN VIETNAM

Abstract

Professional development (PD) plays an important role in maintaining and improving teachers’ qualities and competences, but how to make a PD program effective in relation to needs in multiple contexts has still been a matter of much concern by administrators, researchers, and teachers alike. This paper therefore aims to deal with this issue with a view to assisting EFL teachers to develop their PD in an effective way. At first, the paper points out necessity of PD and some weaknesses in PD plans from EFL environments in Vietnam and uses them as rationale for discussion in the following parts. Then it starts the discussion by defining the concepts of PD and effective PD by different scholars that reflect the current trend of individualized and school-based PD, and presenting scientific evidence about characteristics of effective PD programs in the literature. From this scientific foundation, the paper finally makes suggestions about how an effective PD program for EFL teachers and by EFL teachers should be designed and implemented in the Vietnamese context with sufficient attention to contextual factors.