Intrinsic Influences on Student Achievement in English for Specific Purposes (ESP): An Empirical Study in Vietnam

Abstract

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) plays a crucial role in the economic globalization in Vietnam, and how to maximize the ESP learning outcomes is a big question for educational institutions. As an answer to that question, factors affecting ESP academic performance have become a buzzword in various studies. The main objective of the paper is to evaluate the intrinsic elements that come from students themselves, including autonomy, learning strategy, motivation, attitude, English for communication, specialized vocabulary and specialized knowledge. The research was carried out at several universities majoring in economics and business in Hanoi, Vietnam. The indicators are categorized into two groups, namely Psychology–Cognition and Specialized Knowlege. The results revealed that the factor group of Specialized Knowledge has a bigger impact than Psychology–Cognition. The findings would be helpful for ESP researchers, decision-makers, curriculum developers, instructors and students.