Dr Mai Nguyen

I have been invited to deliver workshops and talks to further disseminate my research findings on topics related to language teacher development, second language pedagogy, and English as an international language. Some of these activities are listed below.

• 2024, March: Invited colloquium speaker,  Advancing the Research-Practice Interface(s) in Applied Linguistics - American Association of Applied Linguistics (AAAL) Conference, Houston, Texas. 
• 2023, October: Invited speaker, Example professional development opportunities, World Teachers’ Day 2023 for teacher educators, British Council.
• 2023, June: Invited speaker, Roundtable discussion on ‘Professional development through Teacher Activity Groups (TAGs) – from innovation to impact’, British Council in Vietnam.
• 2023, February: Invited panelist, ASEAN Teachers Webinar Series: English in a multilingual world. Teaching English Asia - British Council.
• 2022, June: Invited workshop, K–12 Vietnamese learners’ oral peer feedback in classroom L2 task-based interaction. British Council ‘Partners in Innovation’ Webinar.
• 2022, May: Invited Keynote Speech, Learner engagement in the L2 classroom: Connecting Research and Practice. Open TESOL Conference, Ho Chi Minh City Open University, Vietnam.
• 2019, September: Invited seminar, English in Vietnam. Linguistics Seminar Series. Department of Linguistics, Stockholm University, Sweden.
• 2017, October: Invited seminar, TESOL teachers’ engagement with the native speaker model: How does teacher education impact on their beliefs? Applied Linguistics Seminar Series. School of Languages and Cultures, The University of Queensland, Australia.

I regularly act as an expert reviewer for academic publishers (Routledge and Edinburgh University Press), and for a range of Applied Linguistics, TESOL, and Education journals, including

• Asia-Pacific Journal of Teacher Education
• Australian Journal of Teacher Education
• Education Sciences
• Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching
• Journal of Language, Identity, and Education
• Journal of Psycholinguistics Research
• Language and Intercultural Communication
• Language Teaching Research
• Languages
• Open Education Studies
• PORTAL Journal of Multidisciplinary International Studies
• RELC Journal
• System
• Teaching and Teacher Education
• TESOL Journal
• The Modern Language Journal
• World Englishes

CURRENT FUNDED PROJECTS

I am currently involved in funded projects that contribute to the advancement of language education and teacher professional development. These projects include:

1. 2024-2025: Empowering language teacher development through Teacher Activity Groups (TAGs): A focus on facilitator capacity building and teacher strength enhancement (Principal Investigator) - This project, funded by The British Council, builds upon the successes and lessons learned from a previous TAG project. It utilises the Core Reflections approach to enhance the capacity of teacher facilitators and English language teachers. The grant amount awarded is 49,397GBP.

2. 2023-2024: UK-Vietnam Season 2023 Collaboration Grants - ‘English in a multilingual world: Exploring the characteristics of Vietnamese English and its implications for classroom practice’ (Principal Investigator) - This project, funded by The British Council, examines the unique features of Vietnamese English and investigates how these can inform the teaching and learning of English in localised contexts. The grant amount awarded is 19,984GBP.

COMPLETED FUNDED PROJECTS

Throughout my academic career, I have successfully completed several funded research and teaching projects that have contributed to the field of language education and pedagogy. Some of these projects include:

1. 2022-2023: UK-Vietnam partnership for Teacher Activity Groups - ‘Continuing professional development for school-level English language teachers in Vietnam through Teacher Activity Groups: An identity-focused approach’ (Principal Investigator) - Supported by The British Council, this project aims to develop English language teachers’ understanding of three key aspects of their professional identity: their being (perceptions of who they are and aspire to be as language teachers), their doing (pedagogy), and their feeling[s] (attitudes and emotional responses to teaching and learning events). The grant amount awarded is 19,831GBP.

2. 2022-2023: UK-Vietnam research grant - ‘A landscape review of online English Language Teaching (ELT) at public schools in Vietnam: Exploring online resources, in-service teachers’ needs, and continuing professional development activities’ (Co-investigator) - Funded by The British Council, this research project investigates the realities of online English Language Teaching in Vietnamese public schools. The grant amount awarded is 19,999GBP.

3. 2022-2023: IELTS Joint-funded Research Programme - ‘IELTS Juniors in Vietnam: Perceptions of Key Stakeholders—Young Learners, Parents, and Course Providers’ (Co-investigator) - This project, funded by IDP IELTS Australia, examines the perceptions of key stakeholders, including young learners, parents, and course providers, regarding adolescent learners of IELTS in Vietnam. The grant amount awarded is 14,000AUD.

4. 2021-2022: British Council English Language Teaching Research Award (ELTRA) - ‘Oral peer feedback in classroom second language task-based interaction’ (Co-investigator) - This project, supported by The British Council, focused on exploring the use and effectiveness of oral peer feedback in classroom interactions during second language task-based activities. The grant amount awarded was 5,820GBP.

5. 2019-2020: IELTS Joint-funded Research Programme - ‘The impact of IELTS on English language teachers in Central Vietnam’ (Co-investigator) - In collaboration with IELTS Australia, this research project investigated the impact of IELTS on various aspects in the professional lives of English language teachers in Central Vietnam. The grant amount awarded was 10,973AUD.

6. 2018-2019: TOEFL English-language Researcher/Practitioner Grant - ‘Effects of phonological training on EFL learners’ listening performance’ (Principal Investigator) - This project, funded by the Educational Testing Service (ETS), examined the effects of phonological training on the listening performance of English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners. The grant amount awarded was 5,000USD.

7. 2018: The University of Queensland Students as Partners Scheme - ‘Revitalising a second language learning course through students-staff partnerships’ (Case study 2) (Principal Investigator) - Supported by The University of Queensland, this project focused on revitalizing a second language learning course through collaborative partnerships between students and staff. The grant amount awarded was 6,000AUD.

8. 2017-2018: Teaching and Learning Seed Funding Scheme, The University of Queensland - ‘Comparison of undergraduate and post-graduate students’ experience in a flipped classroom’ (Co-investigator) - This project, funded by The University of Queensland, compared the experiences of undergraduate and post-graduate students in a flipped classroom environment. The grant amount awarded was 5,000AUD.

9. 2017-2018: Teaching Innovation Grant, The University of Queensland - ‘Enhancing active learning through a flipped classroom: The case study of an introductory course to language learning and teaching’ (Co-investigator) - Supported by The University of Queensland, this project aimed to enhance active learning through the implementation of a flipped classroom approach in an introductory course to language learning and teaching. The grant amount awarded was 4,000AUD.

My Teaching Philosophy

As a university instructor, I am strongly guided by the desire to approach learning content from multiple perspectives: that of the teacher, the researcher, and, most importantly, the student. Considering all these perspectives has enabled me to prepare and deliver lessons that are methodical, theoretically informed, and practical. Regarding teaching methods, my teaching has been predominantly inspired by the experiential learning approach and thus has focused on providing students with ample opportunities to learn through experience and reflection on what they do. My research in the areas of second language teacher education and teacher professional development has usefully informed many of my teaching practices, such as giving students the opportunity to express and reflect on their learning beliefs, and creating room for teacher and learner identity and autonomy when designing classroom activities.

Additionally, I believe that as an educator, my aim is not just to assist my students in becoming knowledgeable in their field of study, but more importantly, to nurture in them the desire to keep growing both as a professional and a person. In this regard, I find myself constantly in need of reflecting on my teaching practice and keeping myself abreast of current educational and pedagogical innovations (e.g., incorporating new technologies into classroom activities). My hope is that my work as a teacher and teacher educator could be an inspiration for my students to embark on their life-long learning journey, especially those who are studying to become teachers or to further improve their teaching knowledge and skills.

Courses I teach

MA TESOL and Applied Linguistics

• Language Teaching
• Second Language Acquisition
• Research Methods in Applied Linguistics

BA TESOL and Linguistics

• Language Teaching in a Global Context I: A Focus on Task-based Language Teaching
• Language Teaching in a Global Context II: A Focus on English as an International Language
• TESOL 3A: Issues in Language Teaching and Learning (Professional Development for Language Teachers)

Supervision

I am interested in supervising students’ research projects in one or more of the following areas of my research interests and expertise. 

• Second language teacher education, with a special focus on language teacher identity, autonomy, research engagement, and online teacher education and development
• Second language pedagogy, particularly task-based language teaching and language learner engagement in face-to-face and technology-mediated interactions.
• Teaching English as an international language (EIL)/Global Englishes, with a specific focus on Asian varieties of English and EIL-aware pedagogy.

If you are a prospective PhD student, I encourage you to reach out to me to explore and discuss potential research topics.

Some selected research projects I have supervised are:

• Teachers’ perceptions and the role of professional development in implementing Task-Based Language Teaching in Indonesian secondary schools (Nurhemida, PhD project, University of Queensland, Australia)
• Does race matter? Insights into the professional experience of foreign Asian English teachers in China (Loris Lee, BA project, Manchester Met)
• Linguistic privilege and its influence on young adult native English speakers’ relationship to second language learning (Eleanor Cooke, BA project, Manchester Met)
• Cultural presentation of an English textbook in Indonesia (Tahan Sihombing, MA project, University of Queensland, Australia) - This dissertation has been turned into a research article and published in Asian Englishes.
• Acceptance and perceived ownership of Singaporean and Australian English (Rudolf Pretzler, MA project, University of Queensland, Australia)
• English L1 teachers’ classroom language use: Insights from an English-for-Teaching perspective (Thuc Nguyen, MA project, University of Edinburgh)
• Authorial identity in reflective writing of language teacher education students (Hannah Holmes, MA project, University of Edinburgh)
• An Education Epidemic?: Investigating teachers’ self-efficacy during emergency online teaching in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impacts on instructional practice (Jessica Garrity, MA project, Manchester Met) - This dissertation received a Commendation in the British Council 2021-2022 Master’s Dissertation Awards 
• Impact of the EPIK program on Korean English teachers’ self-efficacy beliefs (Oliver Sowden, MA project, Manchester Met)

Research monographs

Nguyen, X. N. C. M., Dao, P., Picot, A., Collier, C., Macis, M., & Nguyen, V. H. (under contract, forthcoming in 2025). Educating Second Language Teachers: A guide to Being, Feeling, and Doing. Routledge Research and Resources in Language Teaching Series. Routledge.

Nguyen, X. N. C. M., Bellamy, J., Drummond, R., Dao, P., Nguyen, V. H., Nguyen, T. T. B., Nguyen, K., Nguyen, T. H. U., & Nguyen, H. T. (under contract, forthcoming in 2026). Vietnamese English: Language, Identity, and Implications for Classroom Practice. Routledge Studies in World Englishes Series. Routledge.

Iwashita, N., Dao, P., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (forthcoming in 2024). Understanding Interaction in L2 Classrooms: A Guide for Teachers. Bristol: Multilingual Matters.

Peer-reviewed journal articles

Nguyen, X. N. C. M., Dao, P., Iwashita, N., & Spinelli, F. (2023). Teacher learners theorising from practice: A case of the concept of learner engagement in interactive second language learning tasks. Teaching and Teacher Education.

Dao, P., Bui, T. L. D., Nguyen, D. T. T., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2023). Synchronous online English language teaching for young learners: insights from public primary school teachers in an EFL context. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1-30

Dao, P., Hoang, S., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2023). Young learners’ synchronous online peer interaction: Teachers’ beliefs of its benefits and implementation. Language Awareness.

Sihombing, T., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2022). Cultural content of an English textbook in Indonesia: Text analysis and teacher attitudes. Asian Englishes. 

Nguyen, X. N. C.M., Dao, P., & Iwashita, N. (2022). Nurturing teachers’ research mindset in an inquiry-based language teacher education course. The Modern Language Journal, 106(3). (Special issue ‘The research-practice dialogue in second language learning and teaching’) 

Dao, P., Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Iwashita, N. (2022). A dialogic approach to fostering TESOL teacher-learners’ research engagement: Insights from a ‘learning-to-research’ procedure. TESOL Quarterly, 1-13. 

Dao, P., Nguyen, X. N. C. M., Duong, P. T., & Tran, T. V. (2021). Learners’ engagement in L2 computer‐mediated interaction: chat mode, interlocutor familiarity, and text quality. The Modern Language Journal, 105(4), 767-791.

Dao, P., Duong, P. T., & Nguyen, X. N. C.M. (2021). Effects of SCMC mode and learner familiarity on peer feedback in L2 interaction. Computer Assisted Language Learning, 1-29.

Dao, P., Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Nguyen, N. B. C. (2021). Effect of pronunciation instruction on L2 learners’ listening comprehension. Journal of Second Language Pronunciation, 7(1), 10-37.

Dao, P., Nguyen, M. X. N. C., & Iwashita, N. (2021). Teachers’ perceptions of learner engagement in L2 classroom task-based interaction. The Language Learning Journal, 49(6), 711-724.

Dianati, S., Nguyen, X. N. C. M., Dao, P., Iwashita, N., & Vasquez, C. (2020). Student perceptions of technological tools for flipped instruction: The case of Padlet, Kahoot! and Cirrus. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice, 17(5).

Dao, P., Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Chi, D. N. (2020). Reflective learning practice for promoting adolescent EFL learners’ attention to form. Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, 15(3), 247-262.

Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Dao, P. (2019). Identity exploration and development in TESOL teacher education: A three‐dimensional space narrative inquiry perspective. TESOL Journal, 10(4), e492. (Special Issue ‘An identity-oriented lens to TESOL teachers’ lives’)

Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Walkinshaw, I. (2018). Autonomy in teaching practice: Insights from Vietnamese English language teachers trained in Inner-Circle countries. Teaching and Teacher Education, 69 (Supplement C), 21-32.

Chi, D. N., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2017). Paraphrasing in academic writing: A case study of Vietnamese learners of English. Language Education in Asia, 8(1), 9-24.

Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2017). TESOL teachers’ engagement with the native speaker model: How does teacher education impact on their beliefs? RELC Journal, 48(1), 83-98. (Special Issue ‘The role of language proficiency for language teachers’)

Chapters in edited books

Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Dao, P. (2024). English medium instruction in higher education in Vietnam. In K. Bolton, Botha, W., & Lin, B. (Eds). The Routledge International Handbook of English Medium Instruction in Higher Education. Routledge.

Nguyen, X. N. C. M., & Sundvikst, P. (accepted, forthcoming). English in Vietnam. The Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopaedia of World Englishes. In K. Bolton (Ed). Wiley-Blackwell.

Truong, T. T. L., Ngo, L. H. P., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2020). Assessment practices in local and international EMI programmes: perspectives of Vietnamese students. In L.H. Phan & B. N. Doan (Eds). Higher Education in Market-Oriented Socialist Vietnam: ‘New’ Players, ‘New’ Discourses, ‘New’ Practices (pp. 307-329). Palgrave McMillan.

Sundvikst, P. & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2020). English in Vietnam. In K. Bolton & A. Kirkpatrick (Eds). The Handbook of Asian Englishes (pp. 683-704). Wiley-Blackwell.

Nguyen, X. N. C. M. & Nguyen, V. H. (2019). Language education policy in Vietnam. In A. Kirkpatrick & T. Liddicoat (Eds). The Routledge International Handbook of Language Education Policy in Asia (pp. 185-201). New York: Routledge.

Research reports

Dao, P. & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2022). K–12 Vietnamese learners’ oral peer feedback in classroom L2 task-based interaction in English as a Foreign Language: frequency, characteristics and influencing factors. English Language Teaching Research Papers series. British Council.

Nguyen, H. V., Nguyen, X. N. C. M., and Dao, P. (2020). The impact of IELTS on English language teachers in Central Vietnam, IELTS Research Reports Online Series, No. 1. British Council, Cambridge Assessment English and IDP: IELTS Australia.

Invited book reviews

Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2022). Introduction to TESOL: Becoming a language teaching professional. System. 

Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2020). Professional development of English language teachers in Asia: lessons from Japan and Vietnam. Asian Englishes.

Other publications

Hoang, S., Sowden, O., & Nguyen, X. N. C. M. (2022) Who am I as an English teacher? Teaching as Being, Doing, and Feeling. British Council e-Newsletter.