HCM CITY — Students of English need to be involved in activities that are relevant, fun and motivating so that they become proactive learners, experts said at a conference last weekend.

They discussed different English teaching methods as well as standardization of English teaching and learning.

David Persey, a training specialist with Cengage Learning, a company which helps people and organisations find learning solutions and measure their performance, spoke about ways to get young learners to speak the language.

He said speaking in the classroom can be a daunting prospect for young learners in their native language itself, and even more so in English.

Students need confidence and they also need a reason to speak, so teachers should encourage and provide relevant activities for them, he said.

Carl Dusthimer, a visiting professor at the Korea National University of Education, spoke of the need to integrate new technology with traditional learning tools.

The world is becoming more connected to the Internet, he said, adding that classrooms everywhere are increasingly using the worldwide web.

A blended learning programme using high interest and authentic videos from the Internet and organising them into interesting thematic units could engage students better, he said.

When combined with the power of the online learning platform, this would provide a robust blend of the four language skills (listening, reading, writing and speaking) for teachers and students, he said.

Other speakers at the conference discussed specific topics like teaching pronunciation and writing to Vietnamese students. They highlighted the aspects that teachers should focus on as well as effective techniques that can be deployed.

The annual TESOL (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages) conference was organised by the Viet Nam-USA Society English Centres.

It attracted nearly 2,000 English teachers from all parts of the country as well as neighbouring countries like Thailand and Cambodia.