Speaker
Description
This study aims to investigate the perceptions and expectations of English-majored students prior to their participation in an obligatory culture-related course in their curriculum. Employing semi-structured interviews with fifteen third-year students at a public university in Vietnam, the study showed that students perceived the importance of the course for communication and their future careers. While holding positive attitudes towards other cultures, students admitted having limited knowledge of cultures and feeling unconfident in conversing with people from different cultural backgrounds. They expected classroom activities to involve more teachers’ support, more practice sessions (such as talks or critical incidents) and direct exchange with people of other cultures. From the findings, implications and recommendations for the design and implementation of the course were given.
