Over the past years, there has been a growing interest in intercultural communicative competence (ICC) in English language education. However, not all English language educators in the Vietnamese context and other similar contexts are well aware of intercultural language teaching since there lacks instructional design models to integrate intercultural content into English language classes. This project, therefore, aims to test the effectiveness of a developed intercultural communicative language teaching (ICLT) model. It involved forty-seven EFL learners learning General English at a foreign language center in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. Three research instruments, namely language test, intercultural competence test and semi-structured group interview were employed to garner data. The findings revealed that after a thirteen week training course, EFL learners' language competence and intercultural competence had similar patterns of improvement. This project, thus, implies that the ICLT model is effective in facilitating EFL learners' ICC development, and it can be applied in other similar EFL contexts.

Natural is a $75 billion word with no official definition in most countries. The United States Food and Drug Administration has given only an unclear guideline on what constitutes natural instead of an actual definition. Sensory and other scientists need to understand the motivations and attitudes of consumers about the products they use. “Natural” is a commonly used term on labels and advertising for food and other products. This research examined 30 ingredients used in food products to determine which ingredients consumers considered natural and why they consider certain ingredients as “not natural.” A national U.S. survey of 1,051 consumers (primary food purchases: 43% male, 57% female) was analyzed using descriptive statistics and chi‐squared tests. No ingredient, except for sea salt, was found to be natural by more than 70% of respondents. Familiarity with an ingredient was instrumental in consumers' determination of naturalness. Healthfulness and chemical sounding names also played a role in whether a product or ingredient was considered natural or not. “Natural” is not a single concept and, thus, is difficult to define. Practical applications Understanding how consumers make decisions about whether a food is “natural” or not is key to understanding how new products are formulated and then perceived by consumers. This study identifies several major issues associated with food ingredients making food seem “not natural.” Most of the issues are associated with a lack of understanding or knowledge or the perception that healthfulness drives naturalness (e.g., if I think it is “healthy” to eat, then it must be natural. The information will better help sensory and other scientists understand perception of their products in a time of consumer confusion.

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Rye bread constitutes a major part of the Northern European cuisine and is known for its flavor versatility. Due to the large flavor difference between rye bread from Northern Europe and the United States, this study was designed to develop and evaluate a lexicon which acts as a tool for understanding the flavor profile of rye bread consumed in the United States and Northern Europe. A highly trained panel developed, defined, and referenced a lexicon with 28 flavor attributes using a consensus descriptive analysis method with 32 Northern European and U.S rye bread. The lexicon was tested with 18 representative samples. The data were analyzed using correlation analysis, principal component analysis, and cluster analysis. The results confirmed the high versatility in flavor among rye breads and revealed clear differences between Northern European rye breads and the U.S rye breads. Northen European rye bread flavor was spread over a wider flavor range than the U.S. products, and scored higher in sweet, overall grain, bran, and rye than U.S. rye breads. Practical applications The development of this lexicon for rye bread can help researchers to better understand the flavor profile of rye bread and support manufacturers in differentiating their products from competitors as well as improving existing products on the market.

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This study aimed at exploring difficulties of ESP (English for specific purposes) reading comprehension faced by English-majored students at one university in Vietnam. Eighty English-majored students were involved in answering a close-ended questionnaire, and three ESP teachers were invited to participate in semi-structured interview. The findings showed that students did not have much trouble in dealing with reading ESP texts; nonetheless, it was sometimes seen that two common areas of difficulties in ESP reading comprehension students were faced with were unknown words and background knowledge of subject matters. This study further revealed that students did not confront much with difficulties of text coverage, organization structure, and grammar used in ESP reading texts.

Being able to speak English well is one of the outcomes for English training programs in different teaching and learning contexts. Nevertheless, there are many factors affecting the achievement of a high level of English speaking skills. One of these factors is derived from English speaking difficulties that ESL/EFL learners have to endure. This study, therefore, attempts to investigate the four aspects of speaking difficulties, namely affective, social, instructional and linguistic difficulties encountered by English-majored students at one university in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam. One hundred and fifty participants were involved in answering the questionnaire. The results showed that English-majored students’ speaking abilities were often affected by speaking difficulties. The aspect they experienced most was affective difficulties while the least was instructional difficulties. The findings also revealed that the number of years spent learning English also affected English-majored students’ speaking skills.

Bài báo này trình bày kết quả nghiên cứu sáu nhóm khó khăn trong viết học thuật, cụ thể là cấu trúc/ trình tự, từ vựng/ chính tả, ngữ pháp, ý bổ trợ, dấu câu/ viết hoa, liên kết và mạch lạc mà sinh viên chuyên ngành Ngôn ngữ Anh gặp phải. Nghiên cứu này gồm có 126 sinh viên chuyên ngành Ngôn ngữ Anh tại một trường đại học ở tỉnh Lâm Đồng tham gia trả lời bảng câu hỏi. Dữ liệu định lượng được thống kê mô tả bằng phần mềm SPPS. Kết quả cho thấy, đối tượng tham gia nghiên cứu gặp nhiều khó khăn trong viết học thuật. Trong sáu nhóm khó khăn, đối tượng tham gia nghiên cứu gặp khó khăn về cấu trúc/ trình tự và sử dụng ngữ pháp và dấu câu/ viết hoa nhiều hơn các nhóm khó khăn khác. Ngoài ra, họ gặp ít khó khăn nhất về liên kết và mạch lạc trong quá trình viết học thuật. Dựa trên những kết quả này, các đề xuất nhằm cải thiện chất lượng dạy và học viết học thuật được đưa ra cho ngữ cảnh nghiên cứu này và các ngữ cảnh tương tự.