Despite gaining great concerns in English language teaching (ELT), students’ wellbeing and the role of the Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, Meaning in life and Accomplishment (PERMA) model has not been thoroughly explored in English for Specific Purposes (ESP) and especially English for Medical Purposes (EMP). In Vietnam, the PERMA model has also been understudied, especially in ELT. These gaps trigger this study to examine the increased importance of student wellbeing in academic settings, with a particular focus on English learning and speaking performance. Conducted at a university of Medicine and Pharmacy in the Mekong Delta, the mixed-methods research involved 675 students who completed a questionnaire via Google Forms and five volunteers who attended face-to-face interviews to provide triangulated data. The sampling technique and data analysis methods used in the study included the convenience sampling technique, the Descriptive analysis of the SPSS version 22, and the thematic analysis. The results show that the PERMA model has a moderate to high impact on EMP students’ speaking performance. The aspects of the PERMA model were ranked in order of influence as follows: Accomplishment, Positive emotion, Engagement, Relationship, and Meaning in life. Based on these findings, it is recommended that EMP lecturers and ELT teachers integrate this model into their teaching methods for English speaking. These findings will inform the development of PERMA-based learning activities in future EMP English speaking lessons, supporting a larger ongoing project. Recommendations for further studies and related stakeholders were also made.
Keywords: wellbeing; PERMA model; English for Medical Purposes; speaking performance