Integrating reflective learning and self-recording videos into English lessons: An eight-year collective-case study in Vietnam

Abstract

English has played a pivotal role in the Vietnamese education curriculum since 2008. However, teaching oral English is one of the greatest challenges in Vietnam, especially teaching students in regional areas of central Vietnam. The positive effects of Reflective Learning (RL) and Self-Recording Videos (SRVs) in teaching English have been widely reported; however, little research attention has focused on the attitudes of Vietnamese students from economically disadvantaged backgrounds towards learning activities that incorporate RL and SRVs for English language development. Through an eight-year collective-case study, we address this important gap. In this paper, we provide the rationale for educators to integrate RL and SRVs into learning activities and explain how we integrate RL and SRVs into English lessons. Drawing on qualitative data collected from sixty-five first-year students and eighty-seven second-year students between 2018 and 2025, we demonstrate that by integrating RL and SRVs into learning activities, English-speaking educators from overseas, such as those based in Australia, can motivate Vietnamese rural students to engage in learning English online every day over nine weeks. We provide insights into learners’ attitudes towards learning activities that incorporate RL and SRVs. We offer actionable strategies for educators to create an effective English language course and a novel way of developing students’ oracy skills in under-resourced TESOL contexts.