With the advancement of technology, today’s language teaching and learning are no longer restricted to classroom face-to-face interaction, but it is going beyond a formal classroom. Drawing on this issue, this study sheds some light on the impact of flipped learning instruction on vocabulary acquisition of English learners as a foreign language, their perception of the practices of flipped learning, and their acceptance of the use of the WhatsApp smartphone application to assist the flipped learning activities. An experimental research design was employed by involving 60 EFL learners who were assigned into flipped (N=30) and conventional (N=30) groups. Learners of the flipped group were taught in combined learning activities before the class using WhatsApp and in-class active practices on vocabulary. This study used multiple data collection sources, including pre and post-tests on English vocabulary, a self-report survey, and a Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) questionnaire. The results demonstrated that the EFL learners in the flipped group scored higher in the post-test, and significantly outperformed their counterparts in the conventional group. Moreover, the results of the self-report survey showed that the EFL learners were at a positive perception of the flipped learning environment to study English vocabulary. Furthermore, finding on the TAM questionnaire portrayed that the EFL learners acknowledged WhatsApp as a satisfactory digital platform to assist the activities of English learning through flipped classrooms. This study offers insights for teachers and curriculum developers to begin acknowledging the promising role of digital learning of English beyond the classroom.

The increase accessibility of online resources in day-to-day communication in the digital era offers ample opportunities for informal language learning to enhance learners’ communicative competence. Addressing the issue, this sequential explanatory study sheds some light on the empirical relationship between informal digital learning of English (IDLE) activities and the development of learners’ communicative competence. Moreover, the types of IDLE activities are further depicted. A web-based survey and semi-structured interviews were employed to elicit the required data from 279 Indonesian undergraduate learners majoring in English education and linguistic studies. Drawing on a multiple linear regression analysis, the results depicted that both receptive IDLE activity (e.g. listening to English music online) and productive IDLE activity (e.g. chatting in English with others) contributed to the enhancement of the learners’ communicative competence. The semi-structured interviews further portrayed several types of IDLE activities which have fruitful insights for the learners’ communicative development. This study concerns on the current phenomenon of how language learners are exposed to the present-day technological advancement in a range of informal learning environments, along with some didactic implications for English language teaching.

This qualitative study was conducted to examine students’ self-reports about Blended Learning implementation at FPT University in Can Tho, Vietnam. It also conveyed learners’ attitudes toward the massive application of Blended Learning in other academic subjects. Relying on phenomenography theory, 324 students, who experienced Blended learning in the form of learning on Coursera, combining with lecturers’ offline mentoring, took part in the research by answering open-ended questions in an online survey. Data collection was analyzed based on Nguyen (2018). The results show that FPT University students have positive attitudes about their current Blended Learning courses, with most compliments for Blended Learing and its prominent features, including satisfying students’ curiosity about online learning, bringing students’ flexibility, and safety, especially in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic. Other negative responses related to online learning barriers, and students’ inclinations for traditional education.

Soybean is a high valuable crop of Vietnam and many other countries. The ability of soybean plants in nitrogen fixation and soil improvement is attributed to their symbiosis with different rhizobia in the root nodules. It has been well documented that members of genus Rhizobium are the most effective in nodulation and nitrogen fixation in legumes. Recently, in oder to minimize undesired accumulation of agro-chemicals and metal salts in soil, nanotechnology products have been intensively studied and applied as nanofertilizers. In this report, the effect of nanoparticles of iron, cobalt and copper on the in vitro growth of nitrogen fixing bacterium Sinorhizobium fredii T14 and nodulation in the root of soybean DT26 was studied. In the cultures of S. fredii T14, nano Fe at the final concentrations of 2, 5, 10, 25 and 50 ppm did not affect the growth, but the latter was reduced of 20, 35 and 46% at 100, 250 and 500 ppm, respectively. No growth inhibition was observed at nano Co concentrations below 10 ppm, while it was reduced of 73% at 500 ppm. Nano Cu seemed to have significant adverse effect on S. fredii T14, showing growth inhibition of 23, 68 and 100% at the concentrations of 5, 25 ppm and 50 ppm, respectively. The production of extracellular polysaccharide by S. fredii T14 was not affected at the concentrations of nano Fe and Co below 250 ppm, while drastic decrease occurred at the presence of nano Cu. Laboratory experiments showed that nanoparticles of all three studied metals at extremely low concentration of 2 ppm significantly increased the number of effective nodules in the roots of soybean DT26 and enhanced the plant growth.

Fungal species Lasiodiplodia theobromae of family Botryosphaeriaceae is a pathogen causing significant loss of production and quality of mango crop in Vietnam and worldwide. In this study, a fungal strain designed as XB1 was isolated from stem-end rot mango fruits, identified and tested its susceptibility to silver and copper nanoparticles. Strain identification based on biological characteristics and sequence analysis of 5.8S RNA indicated that the isolate XB1 was highly close (99%) to Lasiodiplodia theobromae, therefore named as Lasiodiplodia theobromae XB1. The inhibiting effects of Ag and Cu nanoparticles on the growth of L. theobromae XB1 were investigated at various concentrations. After seven days of plate cultivation, nano-Cu at 2000 ppm and 4000 ppm inhibited the fungal growth by 17.9 % and 52.4 %, respectively. With silver nanoparticles of about 20 nm in size, the effect seemed rather limited. At 400 ppm, the highest inhibition of 80% was observed after 4 days, then the growth fully resumed. However, another preparation, i.e. nano silver AgH of about 7 nm in size, showed significantly stronger inhibition against the fungus. At 20 ppm, AgH inhibited 90% of growth, comparable to 400 ppm of either carbendazim or hexaconazole. At 25 ppm, no growth was observed. The results suggested high potential of copper and silver nanoparticles AgH to replace toxic chemicals in controlling fungal pathogens of mango and other fruits.