Factors influencing English proficiency: An empirical study of Vietnamese students

Abstract

This study tries to explore how distinctive or not the Vietnamese students are in learning English, thus investigating factors influencing the language proficiency of Vietnamese students. The study suggests the significance of five intrinsic factors related to the students’ characteristics (which are learning purpose, learning ability, learning method, hard-working, and self-awareness) and three extrinsic factors that are related to demographic factors, parental indicators, and schooling-environment in determining the English proficiency of Vietnamese people. Data was collected from online questionnaires sent to more than 2500 students from eight famous universities in Vietnam and converted into an excel version before translated into SPSS and EVIEW. Research results show that intrinsic factors, especially learning methods, play a vital role in shaping Vietnamese students’ capability to learn a second language. From educators’ perspectives, the higher level of English exposure the students are equipped at school, the higher their language proficiency. Finally, we compare the difference in learning language ability among genders and ages. The findings suggest that girls and minorities are less proficient in language than others.