The study is aimed at examining the impacts of the reading environment on ELF learners’ reading comprehension. To achieve this objective, the study was conducted at Thu Dau Mot University (TDMU) with the participation of 129 English majors and 19 teachers of English, who returned questionnaires and were interviewed on a voluntary basis. The findings show that EFL learners’ reading comprehension is significantly influenced by the reading environment. If they read in the unorganized or uncontrolled environments where the atmosphere is noisy or they find it comfortable, e.g., at home, in bed room, or on public transports, they will have problems about comprehension. Therefore, the role of teachers is to let EFL learners read in the organized or controlled environments. In addition, more quiet reading spaces should be built for EFL learners because they can have high comprehension when reading in such places. Key words: reading comprehension; reading environment.

This paper analyzes the interpersonal metafunction in text messages of teachers of English at Viet Anh School. The paper uses Systemic Functional Grammar as the theoretical framework which aims to investigate into a language from a qualitative approach. The aim of this paper is to discover how interpersonal metafunction is being served in text messages of teachers of English in terms of mood, speech function, modality and personal pronouns. The analysis indicates that the English teachers often use text messages for providing more information and demanding services by the dominant use of declaratives clauses in their interaction. These English teachers also perform their plans or desires about their future intention through the frequent use of modality such as ‘will’, ‘can’ or ‘could’. Through the analysis of personal pronouns, it can be clear that the English teachers tend to interact with each other by sharing their points of view rather than mentioning about other things or persons. Their social relation is shorten through the popular use of pronouns ‘I’, ‘we’ and ‘you’. Thus, it can be concluded that the social relationship among the English teachers is established and maintained through the use of interpersonal metafunction.

An effective teacher plays a crucial role in the process of learning English as a foreign language (EFL) when students’ opportunities to English exposure outside the classroom are limited. The aim of this study was to examine professional characteristics that an effective EFL teacher should have as perceived by Taiwanese university students. A four-section questionnaire was used as a data collection instrument, and the study sample included responses from 68 senior students majoring in EFL. The results show that the three most significant characteristics of an effective teacher of English in the eyes of Taiwanese university students are not related specifically to the teacher’s knowledge of the subject or English proficiency level. Those characteristics can be attributed to any teacher, and they include providing clear grading guidelines, giving clear explanations, and preparing each lesson well. The findings may contribute valid information on college students’ expectations of EFL teachers in the Asian educational context and help make the language learning process more effective.