Gifted underachivement has always been an immense intact field in Vietnam’s educational system, which is awaiting educators and teacher-researchers to cultivate in and bring fruitful changes to the wellbeing of their own students. With her deep concerns about this situation, the researcher carried out a study titled “Underachievement of Gifted Students in an English-specialized 11th Grade Classroom, Nguyen Trai High-school, Hai Duong Province: A Case Study”. The aim of this research was to look at the typical characteristics of underachieving English gifted students; the causes of, and solutions for the phenomenon, from the perception of the insiders. The method adopted was multiple-case study, and diary report was chosen as the fundamental data collection instrument. Besides, questionnaire, observation, documentation and interview were employed to triangulate the information from various aspects and hence ensure the validity as well as reliability of the research. The study yielded significant findings in response to the proposed questions. The participants were found to demonstrate giftedness in many aspects, and linguistics was the most significant. However, they possessed a low confidence, low self-efficacy, fear of failure, and maladaptive strategies during the process of studying English. They expected a change in materials and more practice in communicative skills besides grammar and vocabulary. They also hoped to have positive interactions with teachers and peers, in a less stressful or competitive environment. Based on these findings, implications were made for teachers and classroom teaching. Among many, three remedy strategies, namely Supportive, Intrinsic and Remedial were presented in order to help underachievers magnify their potentials and perform better academically as well as personally.

Abstract

As a multi-case study conducted on three trainee teachers during their teaching practicum at Division I, Faculty of English Language Teacher Education, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi, this research paper attempted to investigate into the main problems faced by trainee teachers when giving and checking instructions in speaking lessons. Both qualitative and quantitative methods with three research instruments namely observations, questionnaires and interviews were applied in order to achieve this aim. The most significant finding of this study was that language use and voice projection emerged as the main problems when trainee teachers delivered their instructions. Detailed recommendations regarding these problems were offered for the three trainee teachers in particular and teachers in general who wish to develop their instruction giving and checking skill. Hopefully, this paper would serve as a valuable source of reference for teachers, students and those who concern about this subject matter.