Factors affecting EFL teachers english for specific purposes a case study at ba ria vung tau college of technology master of TESOL

The thesis entitled FACTORS AFFECTING EFL TEACHERS’ ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES: A CASE STUDY AT BA RIA VUNG TAU COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY was successfully defended and approved on ……….…..

BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY

Supervisor’s name: TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph.D

BA RIA - VUNG TAU, 2022

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY

-

"FACTORS AFFECTING EFL TEACHERS’ ESP: A STUDY AT

BA RIA- VUN TAU COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY”

The thesis entitled FACTORS AFFECTING EFL TEACHERS’ ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES: A CASE STUDY AT BA RIA VUNG TAU COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY was successfully defended and approved on ……….… …at Ba Ria Vung Tau University

Academic supervisor : Dr TRAN QUOC THAO

BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY

POSTGRADUATE INSTITUTE

Ba Ria Vung Tau, December 2021

MASTER’S THESIS REPORT

Student’s name: PHAM THI NHAN Sex: Female

Date of birth: July 21st 1989 Place of birth : Hai Phong city

I- Thesis title: FACTORS AFFECTING EFL TEACHERS’ ENGLISH FOR

SPECIFIC PURPOSES: A CASE STUDY AT BA RIA VUNG TAU COLLEGE OF TECHNOLOGY

II-Objectives and contents:

The aim of this study is to explore the factors that affect EFL teachers’ teaching ESP in the context of Ba Ria- Vung Tau College of Technology in Ba Ria- Vung Tau province The specific objectives of the research are as follows:

 To explore the ESP teaching practices of EFL teachers at Ba Ria Vung Tau College

of Technology;

 To find out factors that affect EFL teachers’ teaching ESP to non-English majors at

Ba Ria Vung Tau College of Technology

This study was carried out at Ba Ria- Vung Tau College of Technology in Ba Ria- Vung Tau province Participants were 6 EFL teachers of the basic theory department at BCTECH The mixed-methods research and the two instruments, namely questionnaire and semi-structured interview were used to collect the data In terms of data analysis, the author utilized the physical manipulating data and content analysis to analyze the data

III- Starting date: (as stated in the Decision issued by the University )

IV- Completing date:

V- Academic supervisor: (full name, title)

TRAN QUOC THAO, Ph.D

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled:

FACTORS AFFECTING EFL TEACHERS’ ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC

PURPOSES: A CASE STUDY AT BA RIA VUNG TAU COLLEGE OF

TECHNOLOGY

In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University

Ba Ria Vung Tau, August 2021

PHAM THI NHAN

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, PHAM THI NHAN, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the library.

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses

Ba Ria Vung Tau, December 2021

Signature ……….

PHAM THI NHAN

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

My heartfelt gratitude goes out to everyone who assisted me to finish my thesis

First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Dr Tran Quoc Thao,

my supervisor, for his insightful remarks and ideas throughout the research process His vigor, excitement, vision, and patience have all left a lasting impression on me This thesis would not have been finished if it had not been for his help and guidance

Secondly, I am very grateful to the school management board and my dean of department who have supported me much time to implement this thesis

My sincere thanks also go to Ms Truong Le Minh, my head teacher, has given me encouragement to enroll this M.A course and all her help and advices I would like to thank the research participants who have contributed to this study

Last but not least, I warmly thank my family including my husband, my sister, my daughters for their countless support, greatest sympathy and unconditional love

ABSTRACT

ESP has appeared in the daily lives of a majority of workers in international workshops and

it has become a part of vocational education programmes in Vietnam However, rarely has anything been done about the structure of an ESP lesson and how it is being taught after putting ESP subjects into a training programme, and exploring factors affecting the current ESP teaching practices at vocational schools in Vietnam This study aims to investigate the current ESP teaching practices of EFL teachers and factors affecting their teaching process

at the one vocational school in the South of Vietnam Data was gathered by the open-ended questions and semi-structured interview from six EFL teachers who are teaching the different majors at Ba Ria- VungTau College of Technology The results showed that the ESP lessons are divided into three stages: opening, sequencing and closure stages which combine three types of activities: sub-activities, main activities and post activities Nevertheless, the four of teachers applied to all the above stages, the two teachers could not because of the limited class time The types of activities are similar to the stages of the lesson of which the post activities are regarded as homework and teachers will check in the next sessions Furthermore, the positive factors are: facilities and teaching experience that support EFL teachers during the teaching process, and the students’ English level and motivation are two negative factors that are difficulties they are facing The findings of this study could help EFL teachers and managers realize the real problems in teaching ESP for students, and find solutions to improve them in the vocational schools in Vietnam

Keywords: English for Specific Purposes, ESP teaching practices, stages of the lesson,

activities in ESP lessons, factors

TABLE OF CONTENT

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY vi

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS vii

ACKNOWEDGEMENTS viii

ABSTRACT Error! Bookmark not defined APPENDICES Error! Bookmark not defined LIST OF TABLES Error! Bookmark not defined LIST OF FIGURES Error! Bookmark not defined LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS Error! Bookmark not defined CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION Error! Bookmark not defined 1.1 Background to the study Error! Bookmark not defined 1.2 Statement of the problem 3

1.3 Aim and objectives of the study 5

1.4 Research questions 5

1.5 Scope of the study 5

1.6 Significance of the study 6

1.7 Definitions of the Terms……….………… 7

1.8 Organization of the thesis ……….……… 7

CHAPTER 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 8

2.1 Introduction 8

2.2 English for Specific Purposes 8

2.2.1 Definition of ESP 8

2.2.2 Classification of ESP 9

2.2.3 Characteristics of ESP Error! Bookmark not defined.2 2.3 ESP teaching Error! Bookmark not defined.3 2.3.1 Overview of ESP teaching Error! Bookmark not defined.3 2.3.2 Roles of ESP teachers Error! Bookmark not defined.4 2.3.3 Roles of context in teaching ESP Error! Bookmark not defined.7 2.3.4 ESP teaching methodologies Error! Bookmark not defined.7

2.4 ESP teaching practices Error! Bookmark not defined.8 2.5 Affecting factors in teaching ESP Error! Bookmark not defined.1 2.5.1 Teacher related factors Error! Bookmark not defined.1 2.5.2 Student related factors Error! Bookmark not defined.3

2.5.3 Teaching context-related factors………….……… 24

a Teaching materials……… 24

b Facilities……… 25

c Admin arrangement ……… 26

2.6 Previous studies on teaching ESP Error! Bookmark not defined.7 2.7 Conceptual Framework……….………30

2.8 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined.1 CHAPTER 3 METHODOLOGY Error! Bookmark not defined.2 3.1 Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined.2 3.2 Research design Error! Bookmark not defined.2 3.3 Research site Error! Bookmark not defined.2 3.4 Descriptions of ESP subject at BCTECH……….33

3.5 Sample and sampling procedures Error! Bookmark not defined.3 3.6 Research instruments Error! Bookmark not defined.6 3.6.1 The opened-ended questionnaire Error! Bookmark not defined.6 3.6.2 Semi-structured interview 37

3.7 Data collection procedures Error! Bookmark not defined.38 3.8 Data analysis procedures Error! Bookmark not defined.38 3.9 Validity of qualitative research ……… 39

3.10 Reliability of qualitative research……… 39

3.11 Summary Error! Bookmark not defined.40 CHAPTER 4 RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Error! Bookmark not defined.1 4.1 Introduction Error! Bookmark not defined.2 4.2 Results Error! Bookmark not defined.2 4.2.1 Stages of lesson Error! Bookmark not defined.2 a Opening stage……….43

b Sequencing stage ……….…… 44

c Closure stage ……….………44

4.2.2 Activities in lesson Error! Bookmark not defined.5 a Sub-activities……… 45

b Main activities ……… ……….46

c Post activities……… 47

 Testing & consolidating activities……….47

 Reality activity……… ………47

4.2.3 Affecting factors in teaching ESP of EFL teachers at BCTECH…… 48

a Positive factors……….……… 49

 Facility……… ……….………49

 Teaching experience ……….… 49

b Negative factors ……… ……… 50

 Level of students……… 50

 Motivation of students……… 51

4.3 Discussions Error! Bookmark not defined.……….…52

4.3.1 ESP teaching practcies of EFL teachers at BCTECHError! Bookmark not defined.………52

4.3.2 Affecting factors in EFL teacher’s teaching ESP to non-major students at BCTECH Error! Bookmark not defined.54 4.4 Summary……… ……… 55

CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSION Error! Bookmark not defined.…… 57

5.1 Summary of the main findings of the thesisError! Bookmark not defined.57 5.2 Pedagogical implications 58

5.3 Limitations and Recommendations for the further researchError! Bookmark not defined.58

REFERENCES Error! Bookmark not defined.60 APPENDICES A Error! Bookmark not defined.62 APPENDICES B Error! Bookmark not defined.70

APPENDICCES C Error! Bookmark not defined.72 APPENDICES D Error! Bookmark not defined.73

APPENDICES E ……… 77

APPENDICES

Appendix A: Questionnaire for Survey

Appendix B: Interview Protocol

Appendix C: Themes Emerged in the Study

Appendix D: Sample Coding

Appendix E: Sample of interview data analysis

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1 Information of participants

Table 3.2 ESP Majors of participants

Table: 3.3 Overview of the Survey

Table 4.1 Themes and Codes emerged in relation to the Portrait of the Case Table 4.2: The sub-themes in relation to ESP teaching practices

Table 4.3 Codes in stages of lesson

Table 4.4 Codes in activities in lesson

Table 4.5 Code of post activities in lesson

Table 4.6 Coded in affecting factors

Table 4.7 Coded in negative factors

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: ESP Classification by experience

Figure 2.2: Types of ESP (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.16)

Figure 2.3: ESP Classification by professional area

Figure 2.4: Roles of the ESP Practitioner

Figure 2.5: Conceptual framework of the ESP practices and the factors affecting in teaching ESP of EFL teachers

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

BCTECH Ba Ria- Vung Tau College of Technology

EAP English for Academic Purposes

EFL English as a Foreign Language

EOP English for Occupational Purposes

EPE English for Petroleum Engineering

ESP English for Specific Purposes

IT Information and Technology

GE General English

PBL Project-based Learning

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study

In the new global economy, learning English is no longer for its own justification but using

the language in a different context with specific purposes is necessary with learners ESP (English for specific purposes) subject, which has been associated with majors’ knowledge

to support learners to meet the needs of employers, has become a vital subject in educational programs With the worldwide growth in demand for English, the number of colleges and universities advertising ESP subjects are on the rise these days to meet the ever expanding particular needs of students who have a place to diverse areas Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.8) support the view that “tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need”

To respond to the demanding high levels of English communication for specific purposes in English, ESP is one of the necessary subjects which universities and colleges have chosen to train for their students to help them communicate in specific English contexts

Nowadays, the current Vietnamese government highlights the goal that education at colleges and universities should help students gain profound knowledge and practical skills in their jobs with the ability to work independently and creatively as well as solve problems in the field of study (National Assembly of Vietnam, 2005, p.16) In the line of this direction, ESP

is selected in their training professional programs of vocational education schools and colleges The vocational schools and colleges have to keep serious eyes on the situation and focus on job–oriented training because vocational education has to change from supply-driven to demand-driven model to keep in step with the development of global industries which have an increasing awareness of technicians about ESP skills Currently, the General Department of Vocational Training (Ministry of War Invalids and Social Affair) is really interested in specialized English programs for colleges and vocational schools According to decision no 899/ QD- TTg of the Prime Minister on June 20, 2017, the targets of programs for vocational education employment and labor safety were approved in the 2016 -2020 period The director of vocational education has established twelve appraisal boards that

evaluated ESP programs for level 3 and level 4 of key international occupations including: Biotechnology, Information Technology (software application), Engineering electrical installation and industrial control, Computer network administration, Graphic design, Mechatronics, Air-conditioning and air-conditioning engineering, Industrial electronics, Resort management, Restaurant management, Travel guide, Tour operator

As a matter of fact, the role of ESP is getting more and more attention in all field’s education However, there are some existing factors that directly affect the effectiveness of ESP such as: students, teachers, teaching methodology, materials and others in which learners are considered as the nucleus of all activities in teaching ESP Evans and John (1998) suggest ESP is a learner –centered approach ESP subjects are planned for the learners who need English for their occupation in a post-academic setting or for the the ones who need it for scholarly purposes in a pre-occupational setting However, in recent years, teachers are confronted with a lot of issues such as students’ poor proficiency, their low interest and motivation in learning and passive performance in class Furthermore, their knowledge of reality is still limited They are standing on theoretical papers without real knowledge about their majors In addition, ESP have used the traditional methods such as grammar translation, direct method or structural method Those methods have focused only on skills and areas of knowledge in isolation which actually meant that the content of the course was limited to specific vocabulary and grammar of the chosen field For this reason, students become passive Hence, the role of teachers and their methodologies play a great influence in improving this problem In spite of the similarity to General English (GE) in employing the techniques and methods, ESP teaching practices have its peculiar features which lies in the knowledge of the content to be taught Moreover, teachers who not only provide linguistic and strategic competencies which support learners improve their academic competence independently, but they also concentrate on goals and objectives, then select and develop effectives materials, plan appropriate courses and evaluate the learner’s patterns of development Besides, methodologies are chosen carefully to teach for students at different levels According to Widdowson (1983, p.130) appropriate teaching methodology is located

“at the very heart of the operation with course design at servicing its requirements”, and to address their specific needs Similarly, Hutchinson (1998) claims that the importance of

considering the methodological aspects of teaching ESP to supply for the needs of ESP learners Shortly, a teacher plays as a conductor in an orchestra and his teaching method is the way that he guides to get wonderful music

The other factors relate to teaching and learning context where teachers and students rehearse their activities That is also the significant place in which teachers meet and exchange the duties with their colleagues or where students associated with each other and with the teachers in and outside the classroom The structure of the space and the courses of furniture also express the expectations of teachers and students in their school Earthman (2004, p.18 cited in Farida, 2015, p.99) indicated that the building where students spend a good deal of their time learning passes on in truth influences how well they learn What is more, Bunting (2004) and Siegel (1999) inquired that the positive attitudes of students and teachers were promoted by an appealing building With these characteristics, the educational environment, where knowledge is valued, successfully built and effectively recovered and uttilized., is necessary in the teaching and learning process The other facet relates to admin-arrangement whose duties are to inspect the process of teaching and learning, and to supervise the final test for assessing the outcomes of students The last one is course designing or relevant materials Ellis and Johnson (1994) conclude that subject – specific materials focus on a particular job or industry When selecting materials carefully, they will equip the learners with necessary skills and knowledge especially with subject – specific materials which cater for ESP learners’ specific needs better So if ESP teachers consider what is essential, decide units from the number of course books adapting learners’ needs or even write a number of extra units to reference, learners will get learning objectives

In view of those factors, ESP teaching and learning is still an urgent issue in vocational schools, colleges and universities Thus, “ESP teaching” matters will be explored more in this thesis

1.2 Statement of the problem

In this globalization era, with its hopes, ESP will bring “a brave new world, a revolution in linguistics and a new focus on the learner” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p.6) Teaching and learning have become a trend and a reality in the world It should be directed to the specific purposes that are related to its major Through the ESP subject, students are hoping to gain

specialized knowledge so that they can use them to apply in their field in English In the Vietnam context, after the Open–door policy issued by the Government in 1990, the developing economy has created a demand for a resource of professionals who are able to communicate in a professional environment So, ESP plays a vital role in Vietnamese higher education institutions since “science, a key economic priory, is taught through English” (Nguyen, 2013, p.26) However, in fact, teaching and learning English for specific purposes

in Vietnam are still less effective and do not meet society needs Although the efforts moving toward the quality of instructing ESP in Vietnam, globalization and the diversity of English has remarkably challenged English language learning and teaching of Vietnamese EFL teachers and EFL teachers of BCTECH are among them

With modern teaching equipment, BCTECH learners could learn specific vocabularies through real imaginations on smart televisions or watch videos relating to precise situations

on YouTube channels Moreover, the curriculum is also selected and evaluated carefully before being taught Most textbooks are published in famous presses For example: Flash on English for mechanics, electronics and technical assistance is chosen for mechanic and engineering majors It is in the ESP series of Sabina Cedraro and Sereva Poverino from Italy Infotech – English for computer users (fourth edition) is for IT students published by Cambridge Press Those factors could be regarded as non- human elements which affect directly subjects On the other hand, the other human elements like students, teachers and teaching methodology have a great prestige on subjects In fact, ESP teaching and learning quality has still been far from satisfactory Students have low proficiency of English and lack

of real knowledge, self-learning ability and group work’s abilities while most EFL teachers have not attended training courses regularly With only six EFL teachers, most of ESP teachers are General English (GE) teachers whose duties are both teaching GE and ESP Therefore, they do not spend more time updating new methods to encourage students in class Traditional methods are often used in both GE and ESP such as grammar translation, direct method or structural method Those are methods that have just focused on skills and areas of knowledge in isolation which actually meant that the content of the course was limited to specific vocabulary and grammar of the chosen field For this reason, students become

passive in learning process They could not discover lessons throughout their abilities like critical thinking, group work, pair work or self – work

In the fact of ESP teaching with non- human and human elements at BCTECH, this thesis aims to explore the current ESP teaching practices of EFL teachers, then find out the most positive elements that encourage EFL teachers teaching ESP and negative ones that are hindered EFL teachers teaching ESP through a contenting analysis of EFL teachers’ interview

1.3 Aims and Objectives of the Study

This study aims at exploring the factors that affect EFL teachers’ teaching ESP to English majors at the context of Ba Ria Vung Tau College of Technology The specific objectives of the research are as follows:

non- To explore the ESP teaching practices of EFL teachers at Ba Ria Vung Tau College

of Technology;

 To find out factors that affect EFL teachers’ teaching ESP to non-English majors at

Ba Ria Vung Tau College of Technology

1.5 Scope of the study

This study was conducted at Ba Ria Vung Tau College of Technology, which is one of three vocational colleges in Ba Ria – Vung tau province BCTECH is one of vocational school training according to international standards with modern facilities and equipment that meet European standards and ensure good learning and practice of students in eighteen fields of Electrical, Electronics and Mechanical, Information Technology, Food Technology, Fashion, and Accounting With the motto “Innovating always for the high-

quality human resources”, BCTECH has cooperated with enterprises and supported students to find jobs or practice in Japan after graduating Along with vocational training, students also have the opportunity to study foreign languages like English or Japanese ESP

is one of the elective subjects that has been included in the curriculum since 2012 to equip learners with communicative skills in a specific discipline Opportunely, EFL teachers have had experiences in teaching ESP for different majors for eight years and they have distinguished which elements are advantages and disadvantages in teaching ESP The participants of the study were the EFL teachers who were teaching ESP in all majors at BCTECH They were taken part in an interview that consisted of open-ended questions relating to ESP teaching practices and factors affecting their teaching career The qualitative method was applied in order to gain the results Two instruments were utilized: an open-ended survey and a semi-structured interview so as to gather information for data After that, the results of the interview would be analyzed by the content analysis method From that, a picture of ESP teaching practices with the positive and negative factors would be shown

1.6 Significance of the study

In the 21st century, the role and practice of English in the workplace is regarded as a key

to discovery in ESP courses Recently, topics relating to ESP have been attracted to explore more and more To contribute to the recent developments in ESP issues, this research is focused on probing the present ESP teaching practices, then finding the factors with hopes

to make some contributions to teaching ESP at Ba Ria -Vung Tau College of Technology First of all, this current research will be conducted to fill in the gap in the field of ESP teaching to find out what stages of ESP lessons are presented in the ESP class of BCTECH The vocational college has trained learners, who are 16 – 18 years old, have limited use of English level with meeting the needs about vocational skills rather than other skills Moreover, it also remarks a new facet for EFL teachers at BCTECH to explore ESP more.Secondly, with the result of research, EFL teachers have realized factors which are advantages to support teaching languages, especially ESP, and continue promoting to achieve better teaching results On the other aspect, factors that are still weak points that will be given to find solutions to overcome and bring the effective quality of teaching ESP

as possible Besides, if the learning and teaching quality is better, they will help learners link to stakeholders easily Good learners with master ESP knowledge who can communicate with foreigners in professors fluently in English at a workshop or read and research ESP documentaries… So, the relationship between vocational colleges and stakeholders is more closely for the common goal of quality human.

In conclusion, ESP and other subjects are concentrated on getting the most effective results possible This paper is looking forward to making a small contribution to the training career

of BCTECH

1.7 Definitions of the Terms

For the purpose of this study, many terms must be defined to provide a specific perspective

on the issues discussed

 EFL teacher refers to the teaching English to people for whom English is not the

first language

 ESP refers to the teaching of English for scientific, technical, etc Purposes to people

whose first language is not English

 Negative factors refer to factors without any doubts that support ESP teaching to develop

 Positive factors refer to factors with not good features that hinder the development

of ESP teaching

1.8 Organization of the thesis

This thesis work has been carved out five chapters This chapter is introductory The second chapter analyzes the related literature about ESP teaching practices and their affecting factors The third chapter presents and describes the methodology that was used to conduct this study It depicts the population of study, the research design, and procedures that have been used while collecting and then analyzing the available data The fourth chapter attempts to analyze and illustrate data which have been collected with a view to answering the research questions Moreover, the findings of the research are presented at the end of chapter The last one acts as a concluding chapter in which the summary of the research findings work while also making its implication and limitation explicit, and points to future research

CHAPTER 2

LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction

This chapter provides a comprehensive review of the literature relevant to the present investigation In the first section, a theoretical overview of ESP where ESP will be defined, classified, and characteristics are presented Next, the numerous teaching ESP issues, such

as an overview of ESP teaching, roles of ESP teachers, roles of context in teaching ESP, and ESP teaching methodologies are remarked on views of different authors in the second section In addition, the ESP teaching practices will be addressed in the third section, mainly analysis that helps identify the main aim that EFL teachers apply in their lessons The last section explores affecting factors on teaching ESP consisting of factor’s definition, types, and characteristics of each type Lastly, some previous studies on teaching ESP are listed and summarized to close the chapter

2.2 English for Specific Purposes

2.2.1 Definition of ESP

ESP, which stands for “English for Specific Purposes”, was born since English became the international language in many countries over the world There are many reasons to study English for which working or studying purposes is one of the most popular reasons Therefore, ESP has become a prosperous field explored by researchers To understand the definition of ESP correctly, ESP is defined in the following clarifications

According to Dudley-Evans and St Jones (1998), ESP is a kind of English for specific purposes which is classified for specific purposes such as English for academic studies or for vocational purposes They mean that with different objects that ESP should be divided into different purposes With English for academic objects, any English teaching that should relate to academic study needs Whereas English for occupational ones should involve work-related needs and training Hence, the needs of learners are considered as a final point to teach and learn English for any purpose

Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.19) also defined English for Specific Purposes (ESP) as a dialect teaching approach in which the learners’ needs are the key points to select the

content and method in its In their view, ESP must be seen as an approach, not as a product

It is neither a specific language nor consisting of a particular type of material Consequently, teaching ESP does not mean teaching a special form of language It is an approach to language teaching, which is based on actual learners’ needs

Strevens (1988) pointed out that ESP was a particular cause of the general category of special-purpose language teaching In Smoak’s definition of ESP (2003), ESP was English instruction based on a real situation and based on the students' needs ESP was needs-based and task-oriented (p.27)

Munby (1978) offered that the syllabus and materials of ESP subjects should be designed and determined based on prior English knowledge and communication needs of the learner Because of the different goals, the learner’s motivation and attitude will be affected during learning and acquisition Provided this problem, Đỗ and Cái (2010) stated that English subjects should be based on survey results and needs analysis to clarify the specific activities to help students get the final goal (p.60) Thus, ESP is an English subject in which the textbooks and materials are adjusted to learners’ desires and purposes

The above definitions stated that ESP seems quite a flexible field and different people have defined it differently However, the main goal is emphasized to help learners develop English to demand particular needs and developments in the fields of linguistics and educational psychology ((Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.19) In other words, any ESP subject is designed to meet learners’ needs

2.2.2 Classification of ESP

Types of ESP are classified in different ways Rahman (2015) has been classified types of ESP in terms of two different branches, which were English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) (p.25) Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) described that English for Academic Purposes was considered as a new and innovative discipline, dominating the field, whereas English for Occupational purposes lacked behind (p.2) Further to this, Robinson (1991) shows the distinction between these two areas in the following tree diagram

Figure 2.1: ESP Classification by experience

(Robinson, 1991, cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.6)

From the above diagram, we can see that the ESP subject depends on whether it can be

classified as EOP or EAP This division of ESP is necessary because “they will affect the degree of specificity that is appropriate to the course” (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998,

p.6) On the other hand, in the late 90s the developing business toward integration led to a huge demand in business English thus making EOP play a much more important role than

in the early life of ESP Although ESP has been traditionally divided into EAP and EOP, according to Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.16) English for Academic Purposes and English for Occupational purposes cannot be separated with absolute certainty They focused in their division of ESP on the specific purpose of why learners study English In their tree diagram, there are three areas based on the learner´s specialism: EST (English for Science and Technology), EBE (English for Business and Economics), and ESS (English for the Social Sciences) (pp.16-17)

Figure 2.2: Types of ESP (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.16)

Another division of ESP divides EAP and EOP according to “discipline or professional area” in the following way:

Figure 2.3: ESP Classification by professional area (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.6)

From figure 3, it is obvious that ESP which is taught to students at BCTECH belongs to pre- vocational English and it is a type of English for Vocational Purposes

In short, various types of ESP are like an overall picture to help ESP teachers choose teaching materials, classroom activities and design suitable ESP courses for their target students

2.2.3 Characteristics of ESP

ESP is a branch of English Language Teaching (ELT), so it also has some of its specific characteristics Strevens (1988) distinguished the difference between four “absolute characteristics” and two “variable characteristics” of ESP

* Absolute characteristics:

 ESP is outlined to meet the required needs of the learners;

 ESP is related in content (that is in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines, semantics, occupations, and activities;

 ESP is centered on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics and so on, and analysis of the discourse;

 ESP is different from “General English”

* Variable characteristics:

 The learning skills may be limited to taught in ESP (for example reading and listening only);

 ESP may not be taught in various methodology

(cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998, p.3)

After ten years, Dudley- Evans and John (1998) proposed ESP with four variable characteristics and three absolute characteristics

* Absolute characteristics:

 ESP is tailored to match the particular learners’ needs;

 ESP employs the underlying approach and practices of the disciplines its supports;

 The language (grammar, lexis, and refister), skills, discourse, and geners relevant

to these tasks are the focus of ESP

* Variable characteristics:

 ESP could be linked to or adapted to a given subject;

 In specialized educational contexts, ESP may utilize a different methodology than general English;

 Adults learners, whether in a tertiary level institution or in a professional job setting, are likely to benefit from ESP Secondary school students, on the other hand, could benefit from IT;

 ESP is generally reserved for intermediate or advanced students The majority of ESP courses presume a rudimentary understanding of the language system, but it can also be utilized by complete beginners

To put it briefly, the characteristics of ESP help us understand clearly what ESP is and what ESP is not ESP might be considered as an “approach” to teaching and it should be based

on the learners’ need and their knowledge of using English in real communication

2.3 ESP teaching

2.3.1 Overview of ESP teaching

English for Specific Purposes commenced in the early 1960s Hutchinson and Waters (1987) compile two main excuses for the formation of ESP that were language revolution and learner-focused in their study To meet the demands of English learners in specific contexts, ESP has been taught for the communication needs of learners For this reason, the language used in specific contexts is concentrated to teach more than the other aspects of language such as grammar, listening, and writing in teaching ESP Moreover, ESP is implied that the learners’ intention is achieving ‘real-world’ targets, targets requiring specific linguistic competencies Consequently, the ESP teachers need to detect what the language-based objectives of the learners are in the aims of occupation or academic discipline and assure that the content of the ESP course is designed based on their needs

In the other words, the ESP courses need to respond to the learners’ needs and also the more important thing is that the target needs what the learner must neutralize the target situation,

including “necessities”, “lacks” and “wants” Necessities are understood as “…what the learner must know to function effectively within the target situation” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.55) Besides, ESP teachers must know learners’ lacks and desires to style

an appropriate ESP subject because these aspects influence learners’ motivation that's highly important within the learning and teaching process On the other hand, one in all the key goals of ESP teaching is to develop reading skills for specialized texts and specialist vocabulary that is also one of the communicative skills in GE teaching; however, students practice it in various topics in GE, and reading in ESP are familiar to specific topics in the student’s field Because of this, ESP teaching practices are quite inseparable from GE teaching practices Moreover, most ESP teachers are English language teachers, and ESP

is also a type of English language teaching (EFL) Therefore, ESP teaching is taken into account as a part of their teaching responsibilities, and that they should make sure of it

To sum up, when teachers choose what ESP content to show, they ought to consider the target needs Accordingly, the ESP teacher plays a vital role in teaching ESP

2.3.2 Roles of ESP teachers

After the end of the Second World War, English, which was strongly affected economically

in countries all over the world, has become a tool to communicate and transfer knowledge until now From this, the need of learning English had a new wave to meet the demand for delivering the required goods at that time The appearance of ESP is not only helping

learners the special language that arose in specific settings by certain participants, but it

also accomplishes the target of learners – specific needs to delight their particular demands

In teaching ESP, the courses are designed depending on the needs of learners and ESP teachers who teach English for learners’ occupation and reassure them to use their awareness with skills in behaving particular situations in their profession Most researchers concede that the duty of ESP teachers is much more than teaching Dudley- Evans and John (1998, p.13) suggest the label “ESP Practitioner” rather than “ESP teacher” On this subject, they argued that the ESP practitioner has five key roles which are teacher, course designer and material provider, collaborator, researcher, and evaluator

The following diagram shows the roles of ESP practitioners tend to play:

Figure 2.4: Roles of the ESP Practitioner

In consequence, the diagram can be displayed that ESP practitioners have different duties

in ESP teaching settings

ESP Practitioner as “a teacher”

Dudley-Evans and St John acknowledged that ESP teacher is “one of the keys to success

in ESP teaching” ESP teachers design the tasks to help learners get the objectives of the lesson that they set up before teaching Moreover, they also organize, consult, and negotiate

during the teaching process Like Kennedy et al, 1984; Hutchinson et al, 1987; Robinson et

al 1991; Dudley-Evans et al 1998; and so forth) admit that the major task of ESP

practitioner is as a teacher who should have good communication, flexibility and the ability sympathetic with learners To meet the needs of learners, ESP teachers sometimes need to

be flexible, or become learners’ friends to share and motivate them in class Even more, Dudley-Evans et al (1998, p.14) note that “The willingness to be flexible and to take risks

is one of the keys to success in ESP teaching” In a word, as a crucial role, the ESP teacher has different duties at the same time

ESP Practitioner as ‘course designer and material provider’

Because of the particular ESP characteristics, the material of the ESP course has a finite choice to select for special majors ESP practitioners, therefore, who often carter the material for the course, and also choose published material or write by himself After

Course designer and material provider

Evaluator

Teacher Collaborator

Researcher

finishing a course, ESP practitioners need to assess the material used to teach to evaluate the level of effectiveness, and contribute to design materials With their quotation to the specific classroom experience, the shape of the course will be prepared The level of requirements is expressed for each of the skills areas (listening, reading, writing, and speaking) as follows:

1 Survival Level – The person can use language at the basic level in limited form

2 The way stage level – The person can interact with others in simple topics

3 The Threshold level - The person can use the language for most everyday situations and topics at a simple level

4 The Adequacy Level – The person can use language to show alertness

5 Proficiency Level- The person can acknowledge flexibly to complex ideas and expressions

6 The Mastery Level- The person has no problem in using the language

7 The Ambi-lingual Level- The person’s use of language is indistinguishable from that of any educated native speaker

ESP Practitioner as a researcher

In teaching ESP, one of the most necessary goals is analyzing the needs of the learner Therefore, ESP teachers should stay in close touch with the research to confirm the state of the art of demands in current society From there, ESP teachers can perform a needed analysis, design a course, or write materials for teaching to incorporate the findings of the research and those working in specific ESP situations need to be confident that they know what is involved in skills such as written communication

ESP Practitioner as Collaborator

Most of the teachers believe that collaboration with a subject specialist is the best approach that is carried out in subject-specific work It helps ESP teachers find out the real experiences in writing or designing the teaching materials On the other hand, ESP teachers could extend knowledge to make their lessons more interesting Another possibility is that ESP teachers can check or comment on the content of teaching materials that the ESP teacher has prepared Robinson (1991, p.88) stated that the subject specialist and ESP

practitioners, who teach the class together, are known as “team-teaching” That is a special feature of ESP teachers.

ESP Practitioner as Evaluator

To assess the level of learners or how much learners get after finishing the course, tests are indispensable They should be conducted during the course, at the end of the course and after the course has finished in order to assess to what extent the learners have been able to use what they learned and to find out which objectives they have not got yet They help ESP teachers get experience for the next courses For this reason, Ojovic (2006) suggested that discussion and needs analysis are evaluated to modify the syllabus

2.3.3 Role of context in teaching ESP

Whenever teaching language, teachers should insert it in some kind of context as long as a majority context that helps learners express their language in the natural language Further

to this, a language without context lacks important reference points for meaning that becomes a challenge for ESP learners to imagine in specific contexts To highlight the necessity of context in teaching language, Savas (2009, p.401) emphasized that “ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures required for fluency in informal settings as EFL does” Additionally, in ESP classrooms, ESP teachers should conduct the contexts and comprehensibility in their instruction to elect and alter authentic materials using in class, to equip scaffolding for student’s linguistic content learning, and to create learner-centered classrooms (Stry & Leaver, 1997)

In consequence, ESP teachers need to have a piece of convincing background knowledge

in the subject of ESP teaching to fulfill these challenges

2.3.4 ESP teaching methodologies

Nunan (1988, p.2) describes that methodology assigned to the election and a procession of learning tasks and activities to accomplish the craved diatonic objective Further to this, the methodology is also declined as what students have to do It could be understood whatever the teacher has to do and what materials are used for (Robinson,1991, p.46) Moreover, Robinson also points out two features of ESP methodology that (1) ESP can establish activities on students' domain (but not to do so), (2) ESP activities can (but may not) have

truly convincing aspirations derived from a student's objective Besides, the usage of tasks and activities reversing the students’ specialist fields is the spotlight of ESP methodology

As Robinson shows that role-play, simulation, case-study, project work, and oral presentation are the common didactic tasks in the ESP course to promote student’s interaction and professional skill and language skills In sum up, for effective learning, ESP teachers need to select the different methods with various activities to motivate learners in the learning contexts

2.4 ESP teaching practices

In recent years, teaching and learning practices have received more attention from researchers ESP teaching practices, especially, create a new dramatic field for their studies because of the global use of English as the language of international communication in different majors Not the same as General English (GE) teaching, ESP teaching focuses more on contexts than on teaching grammar and language rules Therefore, ESP teaching practices have their particular features They include activities which “encourage learners

to apply what they learn in their English classes to their major field” (Peace, 1986, p.2)

In the training curriculum of BCTECH, the GE courses, which take place during the first

to the second semester in the second year, aim to provide skills including reading, writing, speaking, listening Students start to study ESP in the third or fourth semester In the ESP course, students are not only provided vocabularies and terms in their majors, but certain reading and writing skills are also focused on developing in thirty periods The basic vocabularies and terms help students understand the articles relating to their majors and improve their reading skills Writing skill is also taken care of at the basic level to prepare their graduate work such as writing CVs, taking customer’s notes Despite the limited time, the critical thinking and self-learning of learners which students desire to improve after the course finishes are used in each lesson Therefore, ESP teaching activities tend to instruct learners to develop those abilities The structure of a language lesson is often applied in ESP lessons It is started by “a particular way”, then it alters through “a series of teaching and learning activities” and a conclusion is a final step (Richards & Lockhart, 1996, p.113) Rosenshine and Stevens show that the effective structure of language lesson that:

 Begin with a short review of previous, prerequisite learning

 Begin with a short statement of goals

 Present new material in small steps, with student practice after each step

 Give clear and detailed instructions and explanations

 Provide a high level of active practice for all students

 Ask a large number of questions, check for student understanding, and obtain responses from all students

 Guide students during initial practice

 Provide systematic feedback and corrections

 Provide explicit instruction and practice for seatwork exercises and, where necessary, monitor students during seatwork

(Rosenshine & Steven 1986, p.377; as cited from Richards & Lockhart, 1996, p.114)

In their study, Richards and Lockhart (1996) divide a lesson into four dimensions:

Opening How a lesson begins

Sequencing How a lesson is divided into segments and how the segments relate to each

other

Pacing How a sense of movement is achieved within a lesson?

Closure How a lesson is brought to an end?

(Richards & Lockhart, 1996, p.114)

In BCTECH context, the ESP teachers seem to ignore the pacing dimension Hence, their lessons include three parts which are opening, sequencing, and closure ESP teachers start

a lesson with the aim of a lesson in five minutes In spite of it being only five minutes, the opening part has a strongly important influence on the achievement of learners after the lesson (Kinds Vatter, Wilen, and Ishler, 1988) It helps learners to relate the content of the new lesson from the previous lesson and instructs learners to what is to follow (Richards & Lockhart, 1996, p.115) ESP teachers usually use the opening part as a warm-up to create a new and happy atmosphere to start a lesson There are several activities to review the previous lesson and introduce a new lesson in this part that can be a short quiz, three or five short questions to discuss in pairs or groups or a problem for learners to give suggestions

to deal with In other words, the opening part with its aim to notify the new lesson based on the last knowledge, each teacher has particular strategies to begin her/his lesson with hope

to capture the students’ interest and equip further interpretation in a new lesson The next part is considered as the heart of the lesson – the sequencing part In the syllabus of ESP subjects at BCTECH, most lessons are reading and writing lessons, thus the structure of the lesson almost consists of three steps: presentation, practice and production (PPP) which is the process of teacher presentation, followed by learner practice and the use of the characteristic by the students in their own production In general, the procedure of PPP is quite straightforward Firstly, the teacher presents the objective language, then students are asked to practice it in well- controlled activities and freer activities This process starts with the input and ends with the output which is assessed by the products of students The activities are done by students during the process of practice Alternatively, they are similar with pre, while, and post activities in a lesson In particular, for reading lessons, activities are split into three parts: pre-reading activities, while-reading activities, and post-reading activities in a reading lesson (Nuttall, 1982 cited from Richards & Lockhart, 1996, p 120)

in which activities in pre-part are to draw up the reading text for learners They could provide a reason for reading, introduce the text, break up the text, deal with a new language, and ask signpost questions Learners may do individually, in peers or groups to complete the main task to gain a particular objective The lesson ends with an activity, which provides

a global understanding of the text, a teacher can evaluate a student’s knowledge, so teachers may use to end the lesson It is mostly a real situation to link the content with the student’s own experience in the workshop

Likewise, the writing lesson has a little difference Proett and Grill (1986) recommend a structure of writing lessons consisting of pre-activities, drafting activities, and revising activities (cited in Richards & Lockhart, 1996, pp 119-120) Pre-writing activities provide ideas for writing or guide the writer to attend to a particular topic Moreover, writer can procedure a draft of their composition, consider audience and purpose in drafting activities Finally, writers carry out rereading, analyzing, editing, and revising their writing in the last activities – revising The product of the writer is produced after three steps and is assessed according to criteria which teachers had given before The closure is the final dimension to wrap up the lesson with activities that consolidate what has been learned, blend with the real world, review the content of a lesson, and prepare further learning for learners In this

part, teachers are centered, so they can present the key points to cover the lesson, then give some questions to determine how much students have understood After that, teachers can link to reality contexts in which the learners will be assigned a problem to think about or duties that help provide reality needs in their future job.

In brief, due to the significant characteristics in the training curriculum of ESP and learner’s level at BCTECH, ESP teachers transfer knowledge and hope to provide for learners a learning environment based on activities linked to real situations As far as BCTECH, ESP teachers always focus on learners and hope to encourage them to explore knowledge by themselves under the teacher’s instructions

2.5 Affecting factors in teaching ESP

The successful language course has paid more attention to language specialists This has especially frightened teachers in teaching ESP classes where English is used for a specific purpose rather than the communicative one In numerous factors affecting ESP teaching of EFL teachers, the crucial ones are related to teacher, learner, and teaching context Therefore, this part will explore them one by one

2.5.1 Teacher - related factor

In teaching ESP, teachers noticed the critical factor They help learners in reaching better education and gain specific knowledge to enhance their working skills The role of teachers, therefore, has strongly affected the success of all courses Especially, in ESP subjects, teachers play various roles and they also master and are confident in their knowledge of which the knowledge of subject matter is the big point to distinguish the ESP teacher from

a mere language teacher in ESP In ESP lessons, they expect ESP teachers to use specific educational activities based on learners’ target knowledge to gain the aims of lessons Indeed, to put effective the application of content and pedagogical knowledge, ESP teachers must comprehend what ESP is and who it is intended to help The aim of teaching ESP is

to provide knowledge relating to majors that learners will apply in their future duties, so the role of the knowledge of subject is more essential Mohammad (2012) implores that teachers should either teach language through subject or content through language in ESP (cited in Farida, 2015, p.90) It is considered that content knowledge is the source for teachers to design teaching activities in their lessons Therefore, in his study, Maleki (2015)

defines that the goal of ESP is not to teach a subject in English as a foreign language, but rather that the main aim is to teach general topics with a specific content (p.3) Further to this, Tushyeh (1986) affirmed the importance of subject matter in a professional ESP teacher has slightly altered the success of course (cited in Rahimi & Shakarami, 2017, p.5) ESP teachers, who possess limited subject- matter knowledge, can only equip vocabularies with general meanings, even learners may misinterpret those words in their field Consequently, the ESP subject will not be fully effective and there will be nothing special

in the subject other than General English Therefore, learned from a master teacher with his/her subject knowledge, learners can study more than one aspect, so they will have more answers for why and how For example, the lesson introduces the types of cars for students

in car technology Further to the general knowledge presented in the handbook, ESP teachers need to provide information about famous car’s labels and the difference of types that will motivate students to commemorate and add more if they know more about the car Indeed, ESP teachers who expert the specialized area teach can provide and give real context to conceive an attractive course Otherwise, their students are encouraged to understand and learn, then they can complete the objective of the course, and present the needs of the target market

Further to this, language skills are essential in the ESP teaching process Maleki (2008 p.9) states that ESP teachers should be occupied with English language knowledge with language skills to use in class and research the materials In fact, students are not only equipped with the special field, but they also develop language skills through tasks in lessons Hutchinson and Waters (1987) confirm that ESP teachers should have the same qualities as general English teachers It means that they should possess professional language skills or communication skills, which include speaking, listening, writing skills,

to establish the classroom atmosphere A teacher is considered as a controller with his own knowledge to interact with their students to create an atmosphere in the language classroom

to support them gain the objectives of the lesson Moreover, owing to the name “ESP practitioner”, ESP teachers’ duty is not to analyze the content of lesson, but they have to analyze learners’ needs, design syllabus, write the material or adapt and evaluate them

(Venkatraman & Prema, 2007, p.1) For these reasons, ESP teachers need to equip a language skill in advance level to achieve the best result in their work

The last point consists of methods and teaching experiences in teaching ESP Bernard and Zemoch (2003) conceded that ESP is not an approach, a method, or a technique Prabhu (1990) confirmed that “there is no best method” for ESP As was discussed above, teaching EGP (English General Purposes) is different from teaching ESP (English Specific Purposes), so ESP teachers have faced with “challenge of bridging knowledge of subject matter and pedagogy to enhance practice”, but they also have to deal with “re-contextualization” of the awareness of ESP’s specific content as well as instructional knowledge (Bernstein, 2000 cited from Farida, 2015) Therefore, adding to the practical knowledge trained in university, ESP teachers must also accumulate teaching experience through each course For this reason, teaching experience has a great influence on the choice

of methods and activities in teaching ESP Teaching experiences might be called teachers’ pedagogical knowledge which includes beliefs about students, the subject matter, teaching and learning, curricula, school, the teacher’s role, material, classroom management, and instructional activities (Borg, 1998, p.28 cited from Farida, 2015 p.92) In addition, most ESP teachers had experience in teaching EGP that has pedagogical choices and procedures suggested in the teacher book, they also apply some of them based on the specific features

of ESP in the teaching process In particular, teaching ESP does not focus on the number

of words and grammar learned, but how these words and rules (language) are utilized to accomplish peculiar tasks Since teaching experience, ESP teachers choose appropriate activities and methods for their ESP classes according to the learner's needs and society’s needs

In brief, having certain features and skills require training and the experience of teaching,

a prosperous teacher, who can put skills and use knowledge in actual teaching situations with their patience, always keep in touch with new things in language, education, and psychology They will contribute to the successful course

2.5.2 Student related factor

Paltridge & Starfield (2014, p.2) indicate that the teaching and learning of English as second

or foreign language is referred to as ESP in which the use of English in a unique domain is

the purpose of learners To gain specific success in ESP, the motivation and positive attitude

of learners play the necessary role Bracaj (2014, p.45) claims that the role of motivation is very important and necessary in a student's work that strongly involves the learner’s future success or failure Moreover, Rubin (1975) quoted that the attitude and motivation are main factors in language learning They have directly affected the accomplishment of course In addition, Gardner & MacIntyre (1991) and Masgoret & Gardner (2003) defined that motivation is the instrument which is relevant to language achievement in their studies The motivation and attitudes affect the decisive class or not The students had more attitudes towards learning English than the times when these lessons were taken out It is clear to show that when students learn what they want, they do better and they have a more positive attitude In addition, Sujana (2015) argues that the aim of ESP subjects is to provide a situation with a certain English proficiency level for students that the language is going to

be used For this objective, the English proficiency level and the subject matter knowledge

of students are the key components in the achieving goals of ESP To discuss the English proficiency of students, Yogman and Kaylani (1986) confirmed that a certain level of proficiency was necessary for students to engage in principally content- related material of ESP (cited in Javid, 2015, p.19) ESP subject will provide a powerful opportunity for learners to understand English in a context that they know and comprehend If they have good English language proficiency, they will acquire English since they work with materials from which they discover interesting and relevant things that will be useful for their professional work Further to this, learners also develop language skills, enlarge vocabularies, adjust linguistic behavior through activities, new situations, or new roles Besides, ESP students are generally conscious of the goals they will need to use English The other facet, subject-matter expertise enables the students/learners to identify a real context for the vocabulary and structures of the ESP classroom In this way, learners can apply their subject-matter field knowledge to learn English (Schleppegrell et.al 1986, p.7)

To sum up, the learners, who have qualified a good English knowledge and have a high learning spirit with a clear purpose, will achieve good results in the ESP course