English in electrical engineering

follows: - To find out the second – year students’ target needs and learning needs for an EEE course.. - Chapter II, Needs Analysis, analyzes students’ needs, both target needs and learn

INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Over the past few years, together with the development of General English (GE), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has become an indispensable branch in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Vietnam to meet the growing demand for communicating with foreigners and updating information as well as technology in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, telecommunications, oil industry, computer science and engineering, etc

By now, ESP has confirmed its position in many universities and colleges in Vietnam It has become a compulsory subject in the training curriculum At the Faculty of Power System (FPS), Electric Power University (EPU), students are supposed to study a certain command of ESP However, ESP teaching has encountered a number of problems such as content burden, inappropriate materials, lack of time, lack of equipment, lack of experienced teachers of ESP Another problem of great concern of the ESP teachers is the syllabus Although no one can deny the important role of syllabuses in providing a practical basis for the division of assessment, textbooks and learning time and telling the teachers and students what should be learned…, the existing syllabuses at FFS seem to be inappropriately designed due to the lack of time and experience The current English for Electrical Engineering syllabus which was designed for second- year students is not an exception Although being designed with the greatest effort of the English teachers, the EEE syllabus has shown that it fails to satisfy the students’ needs for their study as well as future job This failure appears due to the lack of interesting topics, lack of motivating tasks, and insufficient exercises…This, perhaps, mainly results from the lack of needs analysis, which is widely accepted as a prerequisite of any syllabus design

Being an ESP teacher, realizing the problems of the EEE syllabus, the author finds that it is urgent to design a more appropriate one Therefore, the author would like to carry out a study to design an appropriate EEE reading syllabus for the 2nd year students of Power System at EPU

2 Aims of the study

The main aim of the study is to design an appropriate EEE reading syllabus for second – year students at EPU In order to achieve the main aim, the specific ones are as

follows:

- To find out the second – year students’ target needs and learning needs for an EEE course

- To suggest an appropriate EEE reading syllabus for the 2nd

year students of Power System at EPU basing on their needs analysis

3 Scope of the study

Due to the narrow scope of a minor thesis, this study only focuses on syllabus designing process, but not all the theories relating to syllabus design such as implementing, teaching method and evaluating It is also limited itself to designing a specific reading syllabus for the 2nd year students of Power System at EPU in accordance with the objectives of the training program for PS students and their needs

4 Methodology of the study

In order to achieve these above aims, the author has reviewed the materials of ESP development and syllabus design to set up a theoretical background for the research

Then, the study uses quantitative methodology to collect data through two questionnaires and informal interviews:

- The first questionnaire was designed for students of Power System who are going

to learn the English for Electrical Engineering course in the second year This helps the author find out their target needs and learning needs for an EEE reading course

- The second one was designed for ESP teachers at FFS, EPU to get their suggestions about reading and sub- reading skills, grammar/ structures and tasks/activities to be included in the syllabus

Besides, several informal interviews were carried out with the subject teachers at FPS, EPU to get their suggestions about the topic areas In addition, the material analysis is also used as a qualitative methodology to find out the characteristics of an ESP materials

After necessary data has been gathered, the author would base on the collected numbers and ratios to interpret the results of the study Then the findings would be grouped together and compared to find out the important factors relating to the proposal of a reading syllabus for 2nd year students of Power System at EPU

5 Organization of the thesis

The study consists of three major parts (Introduction, Development and Conclusion), a list of references and appendixes

Part I: Introduction presents the rationale, aim, scopes, methodology and the design of the

study

Part II: Development includes three important chapters

- Chapter I, Literature Review, provides the theory of ESP and syllabus design

- Chapter II, Needs Analysis, analyzes students’ needs, both target needs and learning

needs to provide the basis for the EEE syllabus in chapter III

- Chapter III, EEE syllabus, suggests two types of syllabus: the general syllabus

which outlines the topics and tasks; the detailed one provides more detailed information about the functions, grammar, vocabulary, content grading, Also some suggestions for designing materials, teaching and assessing are available in this chapter

Part III: Conclusion aims at summarizing the main ideas of the study, offering some

implications for designing ESP syllabuses and teaching EEE at FFS, EPU

Appendixes includes the questionnaires, interviews and a sample unit

DEVELOPMENT Chapter I LITERATURE REVIEW

I.1 An overview of ESP

I.1.1 Definition of ESP

The globalization and the growth of science, technology and commerce have generated demands for an international language which, for various reasons, most notably the domination of the world by the economic power of the United States, is English English teaching and learning has therefore become a big business The demands and requirements for English have resulted in the expansion of one branch of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) The demand for this has come from groups of learners who wish

to learn English for particular reasons connected with their study or their jobs This gives some initial indications of what ESP is

Researchers have developed a number of definitions of ESP, most of which consider the learners’ needs the most important element of ESP Munby (1978) states:

“ESP courses are those where the syllabus and materials are determined in all essentials by the prior analysis of the communication needs of the learners”

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) share the same view with Munby who define: “ESP

is an approach to language teaching which aims to meet the needs of particular learners”

Kenedy and Bolitho (1984), when mentioning approaches to ESP, believe that:

“ESP has its basis in an investigation of the purposes of the learners and the set of communication needs arising from those purposes”

And Robinson (1991), while discussing what criteria to ESP are, also emphasizes the students’ needs element of ESP: “An ESP course is based on a needs analysis, which aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English”

These definitions reveal that they all have focused on a very important characteristic of ESP, that is any ESP course must be based on the learners’ needs In other words, ESP could not exist and develop if there were no learners’ needs This means in practice most of the work done by ESP teachers is concerned with designing an appropriate courses based on learners’ needs The learners, with specific purposes in mind, understand

what they need to learn When the course meets their demand, and when they find it necessary and relevant for their work or study at present or in the future they will learn with high motivation For this reason, ESP teachers should pay attention to the learners’ needs in order to design an appropriate syllabus and introduce relevant materials to the course since “ESP should properly be seen not as any particular language product but as an approach to language teaching which is directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p17)

I.1.2 Types of ESP

David Carter (1983) identifies three types of ESP:

- English as a restricted language

- English for Academic and Occupational Purposes

- English with specific topics

The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples of English

as a restricted language Mackay and Mountford (1978) clearly illustrate the difference between restricted language and language with this statement: “the language of international air-traffic control could be regarded as 'special', in the sense that the repertoire required by the controller is strictly limited and can be accurately determined situationally,

as might be the linguistic needs of a dining-room waiter or air-hostess However, such restricted repertoires are not languages, just as a tourist phrase book is not grammar Knowing a restricted 'language' would not allow the speaker to communicate effectively in novel situation, or in contexts outside the vocational environment (pp 4-5)

The second type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English for Academic and Occupational Purposes

In the 'Tree of ELT' (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), ESP is broken down into three branches:

- English for Science and Technology (EST),

- English for Business and Economics (EBE), and

- English for Social Studies (ESS)

Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) An example of EOP for the EST branch is 'English for Technicians' whereas an example of EAP for the EST branch is 'English for Medical Studies'

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) do note that there is not a clear-cut distinction between EAP and EOP: "people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up, or returns to, a job" (p 16)

Perhaps this explains Carter's rationale for categorizing EAP and EOP under the same type of ESP It appears that Carter is implying that the end purpose of both EAP and EOP are one in the same: employment However, despite the end purpose being identical, the means taken to achieve the end is very different indeed I contend that EAP and EOP are different in terms of focus on Cummins' (1979) notions of cognitive academic proficiency versus basic interpersonal skills

The third and final type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English with specific topics Carter notes that it is only here where the emphasis shifts from purpose to topic This type of ESP is uniquely concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for example, scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences or working in foreign institutions However, I argue that this is not a separate type of ESP Rather it is an integral component of ESP courses or programs which focus

on situational language This situational language has been determined based on the interpretation of results from needs analysis of authentic language used in target workplace settings

In short, ESP is classified in different ways In this paper, following the classification by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) in the ‘Tree of ELT’, the author thinks that English for Electrical Engineering can be classified as a branch of English for Science and Technology

I.2 Syllabus design

I.2.1 Definition of the syllabus

First, it is necessary to distinguish ‘syllabus design’ from ‘curriculum development’ In the existing literature on language education, the terms ‘curriculum’ and

‘syllabus’ are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes differentiated, and sometimes misused and misunderstood Stern (1983) provides an attempt to clarify these two terms:

The term ‘curriculum’ is commonly used in two related senses It refers, first, to the substance of a program of an educational institution or system studies Thus, we can speak

of the school curriculum, the university curriculum, the curriculum of French Schools, or

the curriculum of Soviet education In a more restricted sense, it refers to the course of study or content in a particular subject, such as the mathematics curriculum or the history curriculum It is, therefore, used as a synonym of what in British universities and schools is sometimes referred to as the ‘syllabus’ for a given subject or course of studies In recent years, however, the term ‘curriculum’ has come to refer not only to the subject matter or content, but also to the entire instructional process including materials, equipment, examinations, and the training of teachers, in short all pedagogical measures related to schooling or to the substance of a course of studies (p 434)

Following Stern, Nunan (1988:3) suggests that a curriculum is concerned with making general statements about language learning, learning purpose, and experience, and the relationship between teachers and learners, whereas a syllabus is more localized and is based on the accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level as teachers and students apply a curriculum to their situation

In this paper, syllabus and curriculum are differentiated based on the distinctions outlined above A syllabus is a specification of what takes place in the classroom, which usually contains the aims and contents of teaching and sometimes contains suggestions of methodology A curriculum, however, provides (1) general statements about the rationale about language, language learning and language teaching, (2) detailed specification of aims, objectives and targets learning purpose, and (3) implementation of a program In some sense, a syllabus is part of a curriculum

The term “syllabus” has been defined in current literature by a number of authors like Munby (1978), Yalden (1984), Nunan (1988), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), and Allen (1984)

Some of these authors advocate the narrow view which draws a clear distinction between syllabus design (concerned essentially with the selection and grading of content) and methodology (concerned with the selection of learning tasks and activities) while others adopt a broader view which argues that the distinction between content and tasks is difficult to sustain with the advent of communicative language teaching

One of the advocates of the narrow view is Allen (1984, p.61) as Nunan (1988) quotes: “Syllabus…is concerned with a specification of what units will be taught (as distinct from how they will be taught, which is a matter for methodology)” (p.5)

Sharing Allen’s view, Tom Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.80) state that: “a

syllabus is a document which says what will (or at least what should) be learnt”

Clearly, Allen and Tom Hutchinson and Waters believe that syllabus and methodology should be two distinctive separate parts In contrast to such views, some other authors like Yalden, Breen support broader view that the selection of content to teach and the methodology are combined in the syllabus, arguing that with the advent of communicative language teaching, the distinction between the content and task is difficult

to sustain One of the specialists proposing the broader view is Yalden (1984) He points out: “The syllabus replaces the concept of “method”, and the syllabus is now seen as an instrument by which the teacher, with the help of the syllabus designer, can achieve a degree of ‘fit’ between the needs and the aims of the learners (as social being and as individual), and the activities which will take place in the classroom” (p.14)

Sharing with Yalden’s view, Breen (1984) states that: “Any syllabus will express – however indirectly – certain assumption about the language, about the psychological process of learning and about the pedagogic and social processes within classroom” (p.49)

In brief, number of definitions of syllabus from narrow to broader views have just been discussed in this thesis The author is in favor of the broader view because in the author’s opinion, the syllabus should be a guideline to the teachers; it should tell them not only what to be taught but also how to teach them in the most effective way Especially in the current context at EPU, the teachers who have never been formally trained to teach ESP will find it very difficult to fulfill their teaching task if the syllabus and then the material contains only content and no task or activities at all The broader view, therefore, will be applied to design an English for Electrical Engineering reading syllabus for the second year- students at EPU

I.2.2 The role of a syllabus in a course design process

a In language-centered approach

According to Hutchinson & Waters (1987:72), the syllabus is the prime generator

of the teaching materials, as this model shows:

Analyze target situation

Devise tests for assessing knowledge

of the items in the syllabus

Figure 1.1 The role of a syllabus in a language- centered approach

(Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.90)

b In a skills – centered approach

Analyze target needs

Select interesting and representative texts

Devise a hierarchy of skills to exploit the texts

Order and adapt the texts as necessary to enable a focus on the required skills

Devise activities/ techniques to teach those skills

Devise a system to assess the acquisition of the skills

Figure 1.2 The role of a syllabus in a skills – centered approach

(Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.91)

In this approach, the syllabus is not a prime generator According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:92), the skills and the texts negotiate with each other in the syllabus The skill syllabus plays a role in the initial selection of the texts and establishes criteria for ordering and adapting them The texts available, at the same time, will affect what can be focused on in the exercises and assessment

c In learning- centered approach

Figure 1.3 The role of the syllabus in a learning – centered approach

(Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.93)

It is noticeable from the model that in learning- centered approach, the syllabus is divided into two levels In level 1, the syllabus is called the general syllabus which outlines the topic areas and the communicative tasks of the target situation This general syllabus can be used as the basis for the initial selection of texts and writing of exercises/ activities

In level 2, a detailed syllabus is generated from the materials selected in level 1 This syllabus is then checked against an independent syllabus produced from the needs analysis

to deal with gaps and overlaps

Thus, in this approach, “the syllabus is used creatively as a generator of good and relevant learning activities rather than just a statement of language content Yet, at the

Analyze

learning

situation

Analyze target situation

Establish general syllabus of topics and tasks

Produce detailed language/skills syllabus

Create

interesting and

enjoyable

materials

Check language and skills content

of material and make necessary

adjustments

same time, it maintains relevance to target needs” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.93)

I.3 Needs Analysis in ESP

I.3.1 The meaning of Needs

A number of language experts have given different meanings of Needs First of all, Mounfort (1981, p.27) states that needs can mean “what the user – institution or society at large regards as necessary or desirable to be learnt from a program of language instruction” This definition views needs from the subjective standpoints of authorities but not learners themselves Secondly, in the light of goal- oriented perspective, according to Widdowson (1981, p.2) needs refers to “students’ study or job requirements, that is, what they have to be able to do at the end of their language course” Needs in this sense are

described as objectives or requirement of the course

In contrast, Brindley (1984, p.28) sees needs as “wants, desires, demands, expectation, motivations, lacks, constraints, and requirement” This view implies that students may have their personal aims in addition to the requirement of their studies or jobs Therefore, this definition prove to be more sufficient because it combines the views

of both previous definitions

I.3.2 Kinds of needs

Needs are divided into target needs and leaning needs

I.3.2.1 Target needs

Target needs, according to Tom Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.54), is defined as

“what learner needs to do in the target situation, that is the situation in which learners will use the language they are learning” It is more useful to look at target situation in terms of necessities, lacks and wants

a Necessities

According to Tom Hutchinson & Waters (1987, p.55), “necessities is the type of need determined by the demands of the target situation, that is, what the learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation”

For instance, an engineer needs to understand diagrams or catalogues, and exchange information with foreign engineer He or she will also need to know the linguistic features (discourse, functional, structural, lexical) which are commonly used in the situations identified This information is relatively easy to get It is a matter of “observing what situations the learners will need to function in and then analyzing the constituent parts of

them” (Tom Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p.55)

Besides, the information about necessities can be gathered through the advertisements of job vacancies in the newspapers and interviews with users (Robinson,

1991, p.12)

b Lacks

It is not enough to define necessities alone since the concern of ESP is with the needs of particular learners It is essential to know what the learner knows already, so those course designers can decide which of the necessities the learner lacks For example, one target situation necessity might be to read texts in a particular subject area Whether or not the learners need instruction in doing this will depend on how well they can do it already

In other words, “the target proficiency needs to be matched against the existing proficiency

of the learners The gap between the two can be referred to as the learners’ lacks” (Tom Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p.55)

To decide what the learners’ lacks are, interviewing teachers is a useful method Moreover, the learners should be tested before starting the ESP course (Robinson, 1991, p.14) To save time and expense and to reduce the anxiety caused by the test to the learners, the author should suggests that the results of the previous tests (for example: either of GE subjects or of other ESP subjects), if there are, should be used

Wants are varied among different learners “Learners may well have a clear idea of the necessities of the target situation: they will certainly have a view as to their lacks But it

is quite possible that the learners’ views will conflict with the perceptions of other interested parties: course designers, sponsors and teachers” (Tom Hutchinson & Waters,

1987, p.56) If the learners believe that English language teaching should consist of practice in grammar and general vocabulary, they may well be, at the very least,

disconcerted when the English teacher appears to be teaching their specialism There can

be no clear- cut answer to the question what the course designer should do in this situation

It is important that the ESP course designer or teacher should be aware of such differences and take account of them in materials and methodology Thus, a satisfactory syllabus should meet the needs of all related parties This is a challenge to the syllabus designer

To get information easily from a large group of learners about their wants, Robinson (1991, p.12) suggests that we should use questionnaires

I.3.2.2 Learning needs

We have considered the needs so far only in terms of target needs, the starting point (the lacks), the destination (the necessities) together with the dispute as to what that destination should be (the wants) What they have not considered yet is the route Tom Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.61) say that “How are we going to get from our starting point to the destination? – This is learning needs”

It is nạve to base course design simply on the target objectives, just as it is nạve to think that a journey can be planned solely in terms of starting point and the destination The needs, potential and constraints of the route (the learning situation) must also be taken into account, if we are going to have any useful analysis of learners’ needs

Learning needs or the learning situation include the resources and administrative constraints (time, length of the course, length of the period, classroom and the teaching aids), the learners (their age, level, motivation and strategies) and the teachers (their level, and difficulties in teaching ESP)

In short, this section has discussed the most characteristic feature of ESP course design – needs analysis It is not a simple process and both target needs and learning needs must be combined harmoniously

I.4 An overview of reading

I.4.1 Reading in General English

Reading is valuable input for language acquisition It makes sense to take advantage of the fact that many students in elementary courses are capable of reading far beyond the level at which they speak Strong language learners and good readers can benefit from reading longer, narrative texts at earlier levels of instruction In a discussion about importance of reading in EFL, Carrel (1988) says that “for many students, reading by far is the most important of four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a

second or foreign language”

Unfortunately, readings in GE elementary textbooks are generally limited to short, informational texts The language presented in a GE reading text has often been simplified and structurally graded because its purpose is to help students consolidate grammatical structures and practise reading skill Moreover, the contents of GE readings focus on general topics with simple tasks/ activities so the learner often feel bored in the lessons Therefore, from the starter level to intermediate level, GE readings place an emphasis on helping students build their vocabulary and lead to overall language improvement in their English

I.4.2 Reading in English for Specific Purposes

It can not be denied that General English readings have set up a firm base for students to transfer into ESP readings by partly filling the gap in sub-technical English because "scientific English, for example, uses the same structures as any other kind of English but with a different distribution" (Kennedy and Bolitho 1984: p.19) Unlike GE reading, ESP reading is considered as a tool for study by many academic students In ESP readings, the content input becomes more and more technical, language input in the content grows more and more specific The content is often extracted from authentic materials such as scientific documents, journals, reports, etc In regard to linguistic features

of ESP reading texts, the language is designed specifically in accordance with students’ needs The texts are chosen for their value in relation to students’ needs and are selected not only by the teachers but also by learners and others The texts are of different lengths and get longer When reading the texts, students focus much on information and guess the unknown words They also focus on links between meaning (function) and form According to Evans and Jo St John (1998:96), the reading component of an ESP course requires a balance between the skills and languages development

Chapter II ANALYZING NEEDS AT ELECTRIC POWER UNIVERSITY

II.1 The setting of the study

Electric Power University (EPU) has just been upgraded from Electric Power College since May, 2006 As a newly- upgraded university, at this stage, EPU has faced with a number of difficulties in the infrastructure and human resources, etc However, thanks to the investment from EVN and all staff’s great effort, EPU has partly confirmed its image in education and training system in Vietnam In the previous years, EPU was successful in educating hundreds of students to become technicians in Power System, Hydro Power and Thermal Power Recently, in order to meet the demand of the society, some new faculties have been opened such as automation technology, electronics and telecommunication, mechanical technology

Right at the early days, the teaching and learning English has occupied an important position English is a compulsory subject in the training curriculum of all faculties All students have to experience two stages of English studying which is divided into three semesters as follows:

- Stage 1: Students learn GE with 150 periods in the first two semesters

- Stage 2: Students learn an equivalent ESP course with their training major in 60 periods in the third semesters or fourth term of the second year

The textbooks used in the first stage are New Headway Elementary and Pre- Intermediate (Liz and John Soarz) published in 2000 by Oxford University Press These books aim at providing students with fundamental knowledge and basic language skills of English during the first stage In the next stage, ESP study plays an important role because

it helps students consolidate their GE and more importantly, get access to their specialized knowledge

Being aware that English is not only a compulsory subject in the training curriculum but also a very useful tool in the period of integration and globalization, both teachers and students at EPU have made endless effort to advance the quality of teaching and learning English However, the process of teaching and learning English has encountered with many difficulties such as the learning conditions, the English staff, the

students’ unbalanced levels of English, etc To overcome such difficulties, it needs a long time and much effort from many sides Hopefully, EPU can be the leading university which provides qualified engineers and technicians for electricity sector in particular and other sectors in general in the near future

II.2 Material analysis

In regard to the linguistic features of ESP reading texts, the language is designed specifically in accordance with students’ needs The content is often extracted from authentic materials such as scientific documents, journals, reports, etc

With the reference to the reading texts of Electrical Engineering speciality, the language expressed also shares the same features with an EST reading However, it contains some distinctive marks:

First of all, in the reading texts of Electrical Engineering speciality, the vocabulary are mostly semi- technical and theoretical science – based as the language often expresses the operation principles of various machines or power schemes as well as physical rules or phenomena

Secondly, according to Richard (1976: 7) “two factors are involved in the study of scientific words are (1) frequency and (2) presence/ absence” That is to say, some words

or terms are commonly presented in technical texts such as ‘capacitance’, ‘electric’,

‘electromotive’, ‘magnetic’ They are also differ in their context, for instance, the term

‘function’ In the sentence “the function of a fuse is to protect the circuit”, the word

‘function’ implies the meaning of what a fuse does However, the word ‘function’ implies the variability of a quantity in the expression “the function of amplitude of fault current”

Some quantity expressions, mathematics symbols and formulas, numbers are also used as examples or exercises

Finally, when reading this text type, students must recognize some textual patterns

in which the rhetorical techniques are employed such as: cause – effect, instrument – achievement, problem – solution, phenomenon – reason

The current English reading textbook of Electrical Engineering has been collected from various sources of authentic texts; nonetheless, this textbook has not proved its suitability in the topic area as it based on no needs analysis Hence, an appropriate reading text of Electrical Engineering speciality should be extracted and adapted from authentic sources such as books, journals and documents written by the foreign authors with relevant

topics expected by the students Some examples of those sources can be seen as follows:

- English in Electrical Engineering and Electronics (Glendinning, E.H., 1980, Oxford University Press)

- Contemporary Electric Circuits – Insight and Analysis (2nd Edition, Robert

Strangeway et Al., 2005, Pearson Education)

- Electrical Machines, Drives and Power System (6th

Edition, Theodore Wildi, 2005,

Pearson Education)

II.3 Description of data collection

II.3.1 Data collection instruments and procedures

The type of information sought during a needs analysis is usually closely related to approaches to teaching and learning and to syllabus design followed by the analysts

Because the learning – centered approach is chosen for this thesis, the information about both target needs and learning needs is collected and analyzed Ideally, according to Robinson (1991, p.12), needs analysis should try to obtain information from a range of sources and viewpoints from learners, teachers, users and others He also suggests that there are essentially four techniques for investigating needs: questionnaires, interviews, observation and gathering materials

As Robinson states that “questionnaire will seek information for both the target situation analysis and the present situation analysis It can be sent fairly easily to a large number of people”, the main technique of collecting data used in this thesis is questionnaires to determine the needs related to an ESP course of EEE

- The first questionnaire of this study was designed for 100 first – year students at the age of 18, 19 who are going to learn EEE course in their next school year It aims at collecting data on students’ target needs and learning needs of the EEE course

- Another questionnaire was completed by 15 ESP teachers at FFS, EPU in order to collect their opinions on the necessary reading skills, sub- reading skills, grammar and tasks/activities in the syllabus

The first questionnaire for the first –year students was formulated in Vietnamese to ensure that the informants can easily understand the questions and give the correct answers The questionnaire was finished in one period (40 minutes) and collected right after For ESP teachers, the questionnaire was conducted in English and finished in 15 minutes