From Tick-Box SWOT to Practice-First Reflection: A SWOT-Guided Reporting Model in a Vietnamese English-Major Practicum

Abstract

This practice report describes the development and first implementation of a SWOT-Guided Reflection Design (SGR-Design) that re-engineers a mandated SWOT section in practicum reports into a practice-first reflection and reporting regime. The SGR-Design repositions SWOT from a single, end-of-placement matrix to a three-stage architecture that threads reflection across the practicum: a pre-placement diagnostic SWOT of readiness, weekly in-placement reflection loops anchored in concrete practice episodes, and a post-placement synthesis that draws together trajectories of learning and next-step plans. The model was developed in a Vietnamese English-major practicum after a meta summary of 376 reports exposed how conventional SWOT sections invited generic claims with little evidence, weak links to employability, and limited usefulness for mentoring. Drawing on genre-based pedagogy, reflection-as-pedagogy frameworks, and employability learning literature, the redesign integrates prompts, artefacts, and mentoring routines so that students must convert episodes into evidence and evidence into warranted SWOT claims. Early implementation with one cohort suggests that the SGR-Design supports more specific, evidence-based, and forward-looking accounts of practice that are legible to students, mentors, and external stakeholders. The practice report concludes by outlining principles and design choices that make the SGR-Design portable to other practicum and work-experience settings where reflective writing is required but under-designed.