Title:
EXPLORING LEARNERS’ CHALLENGES IN IELTS WRITING TASK 2: A THEMEBASED INSTRUCTION METHOD AT A FOREIGN LANGUAGE CENTER IN HO CHI MINH CITY

Authors:
Lu Quang Minh Phong

Abstract:
IELTS is widely popular in Vietnam thanks to its applicability and practical relevance. Writing Task 2 is considered the toughest of the four skills for learners. A study investigates the challenges Vietnamese EFL learners encountered in IELTS writing task 2 at a foreign language center in Ho Chi Minh City, mainly focusing on challenges of appropriate vocabulary choices and grammar structures. The mixed study methods included quantitative research with a questionnaire applied to collect data by discovering how barriers affect student writing task 2 and a qualitative method used to gain data from convenience samplings of interviews to explore learners’ perceptions after completing their challenge treatment course with the pre-test and post-test through Theme-Based Instruction (TBI). The research findings showed that learners struggled with choosing the right words and gaining grammatical accuracy in their IELTS Writing Task 2 essays, providing practical implications for teachers and administrators to design effective pedagogical strategies to overcome these challenges and improve their learners' linguistic skills, suggesting further research, and showing some limitations.

Keywords:
linguistic challenges, vocabulary and grammar, Vietnamese EFL learners, IELTS Writing Task 2, theme-based instruction

DOI:
https://doi.org/10.37500/IJESSR.2025.8514

Date of Publication: 04-10-2025