Luận văn evaluation of the 3rd semester reading syllabus for english major students at hanoi university of industry haui istics

Vietnam national university College of Foreign Languages Department of postgraduate studies NGUYEN THU HUONG Evaluation of the 3" Semester Reading Syllabus for English Major Students at

Vietnam national university College of Foreign Languages

Department of postgraduate studies

NGUYEN THU HUONG

Evaluation of the 3" Semester Reading Syllabus for English Major Students at Hanoi University of Industry (HaUI)

Đánh giá đề cương môn đọc hiểu học lạ) 3 cho sinh viên chuyén ngit

trường Đại học Công Nghiệp Hà Nội

M.A MINOR THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY

Supervisor: Dr To Thi Thu Huong

Hanoi, 2010

TABLE OF CONTENT

Chapter 1 Introducfion

2.2 Qyerview of reading process seesisssssusanieeetseestistusieiesieinesens 9

iii, Intervizw withteachers and officials cseeereeiroreeeee.22

Chapter 4 lindings and recommendations

4.1.1 Sbuäents” necds

4.1.2 Objectives in relation to students’ needs

4.2 Recommendation for improving the current syllabUS .ojcssisneestemeenenen nena dS

Goal and ObjeztiVes „.36

Chapter 1 Introduction

1.1 Theoretical background

Recently, along with the development of technology and business, English is considered to be the language of opportunily thal is the reason why the đennmd of English: has remarkably changed, Particularly in Vietnam, people usc English to learn better, to know more about new technology and be able to get a good job For many reasons, English has gradually become the most widely used language in international relations, In Vietwam, many foreign companies, the majority of which use English as a medium of commmnication, have come and invested in various fields like tourism, electronics, isleconmunicalion, bariking, transportation, environment, ait industry, ete Therefore, how

to teach and learn English effectively has become an important mssion to meet the great demand for communication with foreigners, especially in various fields mentioned above

translation and incrpretation, Another issuc is whether the designed syHabus me

expectation of both teachers and leamers In this light, evaluation is very important for teachers because of the firture direction in classroom practice the planning of course and the management of learning tasks and students (Rea- Dinkins and Germaine, 1992)

Being the syslemalic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the improvement of'a syllabus and assessment of its effectiveness and efficiency,

as well as the participants’ attitudes within the context of particular institutions involved

(Rea Dinkins and Germaine, 1992 p.3), evaluation plays three interrelated and overlapping roles in couse design They are evaluating needs, student’ learning and the course itself (Grave, 2000, p.207) Evaluation could be done at the end of a course and provides information aboul the students’ overall achievement as well as the overall effsotivenass of the course (Hedge, 2000, p 375) for ñmther amprovement When you evaluate the course, you assess what your course design has achieved with respect to you inlention in designing it (Grave, 2000, p.207) However, 2

uation is not an easy job as il needs to take into consideration many different factors such as course objectives, time allocation, material and assessment, once completed, the evaluation of a course can help

further improve the course With the aim to make a better change in the implementation of

the 3° semester English reading syllabus for English major studorts al Hanoi University of Industry (HaUT) this study focuses on evaluating the syllabus developed by teachers at the English Department at IlaUI regarding factors such as course objectives, tims allocation,

material and assessment,

1.2 Background of the study

Hanoi University of Industry (lat), which previously known as a collsge of vocational training, was founded in 2005 Previously, English was taught as a compulsory subject following the requirement of Ministry of Education and ‘Training After finishing the college, students only need to master basic level of Generat English (GE) Although al that time English was a compulsory subject, students and teachers did not consider English

as important as other subjects, thus teachers thought that it was not necessary to evaluate

any GE syllabuses

Recently, recognizing the needs of society for good English for Specific Purposes (ESP) teachers, translators and interpreters, HaUl establishes its English Department at the same time of Hall's foundation The ultimate goal of the English Department is to train ESP teachers, translators and interpreters who need both English and knowledge in specific fields of science and technology The English Department has 50 teachers who mostly graduated fiom University of Foreign Languages in Hanoi and some fiom other places nationwide to meet the demand of training At present, these English teachers are able to teach GE as well as ESP

1.3 Statement of the problem

Having been teaching af Tlanoi University of Industry (TalJ1) for five years, T have

used many syllabuses in teaching English for different kinds of students namely non- English major students, for ESP, and for English major students As far as [ am concerned, the English syllabi at IlaU] have not ever been evaluated yet J, therefore, would like to

My study is targeted at the 3° semester reading syllabus of Linglish major students of the English Department

1.4 Objective and structure of the study

The ullimale goal of the sludy is lo cvatuals the current 3% semester reading syllabus (thercafler called the syllabus) for English major students al HalT Due to time constrain, T plan to conduct the research to find answers to the following questions:

i To what extent does the syllabus meet the expectations of both teachers and leamers in terms of course objectives, time allocation, materials and assessment?

2 What are the suggestions to further kuprave the syllabus?

Such findings will provide insights into the strengths and weaknesses of the ourrent

syllabus and help propose some revommendations for an even beticr syllabus

The thesis is onganived imo five chaplers Chapter 1 is the Introduction, Chapter 5 is the Conclusion Chapter 2, Literature Review, consists of an overview of evaluation, reading process and of syllabus Chapter 3, the Study deals with the methodology of the study dolailing the dala collections and analysi

Chaplv 4, Findings and Recommendations, provides an insight into the current syllabus with its own strengths and weakness in real situation via feedbacks from students and teachers, It also gives recommendations for an even better syllabus

Chapter 2 Literature review

2.1 An overview of evaluation

‘There are many definitions of evaluation Basically, evaluation is asking questions and acting om the responses, According Io Brown (1989, p.223), cvaluation is the systematic collection and analysis of all relevant information necessary to promote the improvement of a curiculum and assess its effectiveness and efficiency, as well as the participanls’ attitudes within the context of the particular institutions involved

Rea- Dickins and Germaine (1992) claini thal cvaluation is an intrinsic parl of teaching and learning, It can provide a wealth of information to use for the futwe of classroom practice, for planning of courses, and for the management of learning tasks and students, ‘They assert that “making evaluative judgments is therefore a feature of social life,

‘bul evaluation is nol always somelling [hat we do ina principle and systematic way”

Evaluation plays three interrelated and overlapping roles in course design The first

is evaluating needs, the second is evaluate students’ learnmg and the third is evaluating the course itself (Graves, 2000, p.207) While evaluation entails the collection of information on what foansrs can do in the targel language, it also involves additional

processes designed to assist us in interpreting and acting on the results of our evaluation

Graves also believes that cvaluation can be both formative and summative Formative evaluation, whose purpose is pedagogically motivated (Hedge, 2000, p 376), lakes place as Ihe course is in progress and provides information about how well the students are doing what they have achieved, what they need to work on, and how well the course is meeting their needs Summative evaluation is done at the end of a course and provides information about the studenls’ overall achievement as well as the overall

effectiveness of the cowse

Hedge (2000) also refurs to the term “evaluation” as “the assessment of students at the end of the course, Recently, however, the meaning of evaluation is understood as an assessmen! of all aspects of a programn Dvalualion can relal lo course and learners in a mumber of ways First, the couse can be judged as it is planned Second, all what are

actually happening in the classroom can be observed, described and assessed ‘hus, there

is parallel between assessing the sludenis’ learning and svalusting the course According to

DELL Needs

In fact, there are different discussions about the meanings of needs Researchers

like R Berwick, H.G Widdowson and P.C Robinson and ' Hutchinson & A Walter

expressed their opinion about needs as follows:

+ Needs can refer to leamers” study or job requirement that is what they have to

be able to do at the cnd of their language course, This is called to be a goal-

oriented definition of needs (Widdowson, 1981, p.2)

- Needs can be considered what the learners need to do to actually acquue the language ‘his is a process- oriented definition of needs and the means of

learning

(Widdowson, 1981, p.2)

- Needs are considered to be what students themselves would like to gain from

and wants,

“Necessities are the type of needs which are determined by the demands of the target situation, that is what learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation” (Hutchinson & Wallers 1987, p.55) In olher words, ‘lies ean be

Wants is one of the terms of target needs with the actual learners playing active role thal is the learners have a view as lo what their needs are, Richierich (1984) comments that needs do not exist independently of'a person, People build the image of their needs on the

basis of data relating to themselves and their environment

In conclusion, within the category of target needs, further division under necessities, lacks and wants in which the route ftom the starting point (lacks) to the destination (necessitics) and what the destination should be (wants) form the so called learning needs (Hutchinson & Walters, 1993, p.60)

In other words, learning needs are defined in terms of what the leaner needs to do

in order to learn Llowever, to the destination successfully, Llutchinson & Walters (1987)

point out

It is native to base a course design simply on the target objectives, just as

it is native to think that a joumey can be planned solely in terms of the starting point and the destination ‘I'he needs, potential and constrains of the route (ie the leaning situation) must also be taken into account, if we are going to have any usefull analysis of learners’ needs (p.61)

On the basis of the theory above, information on leamers’ needs is often collected and analyzed in the various steps of teaching and leaming, ftom the course design,

implementation Lo the svaluation,

2LL2 The roles of needs analysis

Needs analysis is of great importance in defining and meeting the various needs of particular learners The course designer has to analyze the learners’ needs so as to design appropriate course and help the learners to acquire English more effectively and

successfully Discussing the important role of needs analysis, [lutchinson & Walters

(1987) assorL thai

If Icarners, sponsors and teachers know why learners need English, that awareness will have an influence on what will be acceptable as reasonable content in the language course, and on the positive side, what potential can

be exploited (p.53)

It is clear that nesds analysis very much influence the input of a language

programme .\ major reason for conducting a needs analysis is to provide a specifications

of input which is relevant to the needs of a given leamer or group of learners (target needs) Ii wors possible or desirable lo tcach the entire system of the largst language, then need analysis would not be necessary (Nunan, 1985, p.7) Need analysis can be divided into two stages The first stage is the objective analysis which 1s carried out before the beginning of a course and involves consideration of both input and methodology The

a

next is the subjective analysis which is conducted during the course of program delivery (Nurum, 1985, p 51)

Needs analysis can be used for a number of different purposes Richards (2001, p 53) lists such purpose of a needs analysis as follows:

+ To find out what language skills a learner needs in order to perform a particular role such as a sale manager, tourist guide, or university student

- ‘To determine if an existing course adequately addresses the needs of potential

students

+ ‘To identify a change of direction that people in a reference group feel important

- ‘To identify a gap between what students can do at present and what they need to he able Lo do

+ To eolleol information about, particular problems learners arc experiencing

+ To help evaluate a language program

It can be easily seen that needs analysis is essential to the development of a language course in genenil, and the course evalualion in particular

2.1.2 Language course evaluation

1 Who evaluale the course?

2 What can be evaluated?

3 Why evaluate the course?

4 Llow can you evaluate it? (What are some ways to evaluate it?

5 When can you evaluate it?

6 What is done with the results of evaluation? ( Graves, 2000, pp 214 -216)

According to Pauline Rea - Dickins and Richard Kiely (2005, pp 59 - 60) language course evaluation design factors have tad significant influcnee on the development of evaluation theory and praetice in this field Teachers and administrators do course or program evaluation for many different reasons Teachers may, for example, do evaluation

in order fo improve the effectiveness of their

And there will be other reasons for administrators such as resource allocation,

promotion, recruitment, addition‘remeval ofa course

2.2 Gverview af reading process

2.2.1, Reading and reading comprehension

According to Goodman ( 1975, p.12), “reading is a receptive language process which starts with a linguistic surfaec representative cncoded by a writer and cnds with

meaning which the reader constructs” On the other hand, Hammer (1991, p.190) viewed

reading with more physical and mental precision as an “exercise dominated by the eyes and the brain The cyos recive messages and (he brain then has lo work ont the significance of these messages Other authors define reading, as the act of simmultanzously reading the lines, reading between the lines, and reading beyond the lines (Manzo & Manzo, 1993) The first part of their defimilion, reading the Hines refers to the act of decoding the words in order to construct the author’s basic massage The next part, reading between the line, refers to the act of making inferences and understanding the author's implied message and finally, reading beyond the lines involves the judging of the significance of the author’s message and applying it to other arcas of background and knowledge, It is important to note that neither of these definitions focuses on the sounding out of the words Sounding oul of the words is an important skill but iLis secondary to the

act of comprehending and thinking Comprehension and thinking is what reading is really

all about

Reading is an avlive process (nol a producl) in which readers shifl belwesn sources

of information (what they know and what the text says) elaborate meaning and strategies,

check their interpretation (revising when appropriate) and use the social context to focus

their response (Walker, 1996)

Vacca and Vacca ( 1996) offer the following chart of levels of comprehension:

Reading between the lines

Figure 2.1 Levels of comprehension (Vacca and Vacca, 1996, p 23)

Obviously, these definitions have pointed oul the nature of roading which is necessary for consideration of how to read effectively

2.2.2 Reading strategies

222.1 Reading strategies to approach reading materials effectively

‘There have been many discussions about reading strategies, its nature and the skills roquired for cfleetive reading 10 bs achieved Robinson (1980); Nuttal (1982) and Grabe (1988) hold that roading is not.» passive proces of eomnmunication

According to some experts, reading is an interactive constructive process in which readers comprehend, interpret and respond to text according to what they already know dinteractive is probably best explained by Grabe (1988) as ‘the interaction of the roadler’s several kinds of knowledge and the interaction of the reader and the text”

Grabe’s point of view (1988, p 56) on the notion of reading as an interactive process refers to a “kind of dialogue” between the reader and the text.” The notion of reading as an interactive process cvolved from schema theory and is often termed the fop~ down approach to reading Moreover, Grabe (1988) also suggests that the term “ interactive” also refers ta the interplay of both bottom — up and top- down reading

strategies Bolionr up strategies inclule decoding graphic features and grammatical characteristics, while top- down strategies include predicting, applying background knowledge and recognizing global text structure

‘The notion of top-down strategies is usually used in the literature to inelude both global strategies for processing the text as well as activating conceptual (background) knowledge of the world,

Any unbalance between bottom up and top- down strategies process ean cause problems for the reader In the words of Dublin & Bucina (1991 p 197) “the two processes, bottom-up and top- down, are complementary: one is not able to fimotion propetly withont the other Thus, inicractive theory avcounts for the abilily to toad closcly when necessary- for example in scanning for specitic information or proof’ reading material after composing it.””

Some other researchers describe the reading act as a “transaction”, in which meaning emerges from a continuing give- and — take relationship belween the roader and the text, each shaping is shaped by the other This kind of interaction between readers and the text allows readers to construct their own meaning according to their background Knowledge and experience Recent research has conceived teading as an interactive cognitive process in which readers interact with the text using their prior knowledge

(Carrell, 1983) and cultural background Brumfit (1984, p 3) defines reading is a complex

2.22.2 Reading strategies for effective processing of reading materials

It is meaningless to do anything without a clear purpose and this is especially truc for reading practice We can not read any material efizctively if we do not know exaetly what we want or need from it Different reading purposes result in a wide range of reading strategies also lermed techniques applicable to TFT reading comprehension, the final Largel

of any EFL reading practice According to Munby (1978), the most important of these strategies are:

* Recognizing the script ofa language

+ _ Dedueting the meaning and use of unfamiliar Lexical items

= Understanding explicitly stated information

© Understanding information when not explicitly stated

Understanding conceptual meaning

© Understanding the communicative value of sentence and utterance

= Understanding relations belweon parls ofa tex! (rough lexicat cohesion deviees

* Understanding relations between parts of a text through grammatical cohesion

devices

© Inlerpreting text by gaing outside it

© Recognizing indicators in discourse

© Identifying the main paint or important information ina piece of discourse

© Distinguishing the main idea from supporting details

* Extracting salient point to summarize ( the text, an idea )

* Basic reférence skills

© Skimming

« _ Scanning to locate specifically required information

The whove slralcgics arc very cffeelive and uscfut tools to Gicililale the reaiing process and to help EFL readers to achieve different reading purposes, When strategies such as skimming, scanning, making inference can be regarded as first basic activities for

comprehension, the others including guessing strategics, identifying and revicwing

According to The National Capital Language Resource Center, Washington, DC

Reading ta learn the language: Reading material is language input

Tl is mộ

ary lo provide multiple opperhunitics for learners 1 absorb vocabulary, grammar, sentence structure, and discourse structure as they occur in authentic context by giving learners a variety of materials to read Learners this gain a more complele picture of the ways in which the

elements of the language work together to convey meaning

Reading for content information, Leamers’ purpose for reading in their native language is often to obtain information about a subject they are studying and this purpose ean be useful in the language clissroom as well Reading for content information in the language classroom gives lcarners both authentic reading material and an authentic purpose for reading

Reading for cultural knowledge and awareness: Reading everyday rmatcrials that arc designed for native Gan give lzamers imsighL inlo the lifestyles and worldviows of the people whose language Ihey are sludying

‘When learners have access to newspapers, magazines and internet, they are exposes to culture in all its variety, and monolithic cultural stereotypes begin to broak down

A curriculum contain a broad description of general goals by indicating an overall educational cultural philosophy which applies across subjects together with a

Ubcorctical orientation to language and language Icaching wilh respec to the subject

matter at hand, A curiculum is often reflective of national and trends as well

A syllabus is more detailed and operational statement of teaching and learning clemenls which ranslats the philosophy of the curriculum into scries of plarmed steps leading towards more narrowly defined objectives at each level (p.35)

2.3.2, Definitions of syllabus

Basically, the torm “syllabus” has beon uscd and defined by famous authors with the narrow and broad views Thus, the term is still rather confusing to many readers because some authors advocate the narrow view which draw a clear distinction between syllabus and methodology whercas some others adopt the broader view which argues with the advent of communicative language teaching, the distinction between content and tasks

is diMficull to sustain Valden (1984) points out his broad view as follows:

‘The syllabus replaces the concept of “method” and the syllabus is now seen ad an

Allen stares [he same view wilh Numan, they define syllabus with the distinction between syllabus and methodology According to Allen (1984, p.49) “syllabus is related to what units the learners will be learned but not how they will be taught and that is a matter

of methodology, and Nunan’s point of view is “syllabus is seen as being concerned

essentially with the selection and grading of content, while methodology is concerned with:

the selection of learning tasks and activities”

According to Winddowson (1981, p 26), a syllabus is simply a framework within which activities can be carried out: a teaching device to facilitate learning It only becomes

a threat to pedagogy when it is regarded as absolute rules for determining what is to be learned rather than points of reference from which learing oan be Laken,

IL is clear from the lileralure that the authors’ opimiens do nol comtradicl one

another, although they study the subject from different points of view and express their ideas in different terms and wards Finally, it can be concluded that a syllabus is the

description of the contents of a coursa of instruction and the order in whieh they are to be taught, Moreover, the syllabus functions as a major communication device that provides details on how student learning will be assessed and about the roles of both students and

instructors in Learning and asscssrnout, process

focus Funclional focus

Figure 2.2 Bases for language syllabus design

itis clear from the above diagram that “Content™, “Skill”, and “Method” are the main

bases for language syllats

2.3.4 Roles of syllabus in training program

It is obvious that a syllabus is an infegral component in the process of course design Hulchinson and Wallers (1987, p83) have listed different roles of a syllabus in a training programme, First, a syllabus, in defining the constituent parts of language knowledge provides a practical basis for the division of assessment, learning time and textbooks Second, a syllabus also gives moral support to the teacher and learner, in that it makes the language learning task appear manageable, ‘Lhird, a syllabus can be seen as a stalement of the projected routes, so thal leachers and learners do net only have an idea of where they are going, but how might they get there, Fowth, a syllabus is an unplicit statement of view on the nature of language and learning A syllabus will normally be

expre

in Lerms of whal is taken to be the most important aspect of language learnings Fifth, a syllabus provides a sel of criteria for materials selection andor writing IL defines the kind of texts to look for or produce the items to focus on in exercises and so on, Sixth,

a syllabus is one way in which standardization is achieved Lastly, a syllabus provides a visible basis for testing

Therefore, it is said that a syllabus is am important document, in the leaching and learning process A language teaching syllabus involves the integration of subject matter (what to talk about) and linguistic matter (how to talk about it); that is the actual matter that makes up toachinys

In short, it is clear from the list that a syllabus is a document of great importance in teaching and Icarning process Therefore, it is necessary to take into account the significant roles of syllabus in designing syllabus

2.3.5 The role of reading syllabus in language curriculum

In order to evaluate a reading syllabus, we should consider the place of reading in a language curriculum According to Nunan (1988), a syllabus is located in the curriculum documents, it can also ‘be found in the classroom itself where iL is manifested in the content, resources, and processes of learning There are a great variety of syllabuses in

existence at any time Llowever they can be classified into: grammatical syllabus, lexical syllabus, fimolional syllabus, situntional syllabus, topical or content-based syllabus, skill syllabus, task- based syllabus, text- based syllabus and integrated- syllabus (Richards, 2001) Moreover, what type of syllabus is used depending on the real situation, student needs and objectives of the course According to Read Jolm A $ (1984), the four criteria Lo evaluate a syllabus are: (1) adequacy of the framework, (2) suitability for learner needs, (3) probability of successftl implementation, and (4) effectiveness of learning activities based

on the syllabus, From the four criteria of syllabus avalualion, rescarchors point out some distmctions in syllabus design The most clear distinction is language ‘product’ and leatner

‘process’ as the appropriate orientation towards the curriculum (Rost, 1990, p.222) There

are various Lypes of syllabus which can be put under thrce board headings such as: Content

or Product (focus on the end result), Skill, and Methods or Process (focus on the means to

an end) The first type consists of Grammatical’ Structural’ Language form syllabus,

Notional- Functional syllabus, Situational syllabus, Topie syllabus, and Content-based syllabus The sccond type is just single type and the last arc Process syllabus, Procedure/l'ask- based syllabus, and Learning- centered/Negotiate syllabus

In a product-oriented view of syllabus, language skills are treated as “channels” through which content can be processed (Rost, 1990, p 222) Skills are to be developed in order to cnable learners la acquire ‘qroduet’ — words, grarmmmatical rules, fuels and cơneepi~ mote efficiently Within product syllabuses, language macro skill are thought of means through which prescribes items are represented, practiced and leamed Specifically, reading can be viewed as 4 processing clumncl through which language products are presented to the learner

Beside, in the process- oriented syllabuses, language development is considered as progressive gain in skills for handling information and strategies for handing interactions and procedures, with macro- skills (such us reading) viewed as supportive outeomnes of learning tasks Nunan (1989, p.40) Another way of stating relationship between skill development and syllabus is that in a process — syllabus, language skill and content can be

linked in a curricular oyele In this cycle, texts are used as starting pointes or as necessary

source of information needed for a task, skills support interpretation of texts in the task,

language is understood as means of doing task, and appropriately graded and liked tasks

constitute Ih

yllabus content of the language course (Lang, 1985, cited by Rest, p 224)

So far in this chapter, there was discussion on the relationship between skill development (specifically reading) and the different types of syllabus, The next chapter

focuses on my study with the aim of finding the merits and demerits of the 34 semester roading syllabus [or English major student at HalJT for farther improvement

Chapter 3 The study

3.1 Research objectives and methodology

‘The study’s aim is to evaluate the current reading syllabus of the 3% semester for

English major students al Hanoi University of Industry 1 just facus om the following

questions:

1 To what extent docs the syllabus mect the expectations of both teachers and

learners in terms of course objectives, time allocation, materials and assessment?

2 What are the suggestions to fiuther improve the syllabus?

In the light of the literature review and based on my real sifuation, I decide to use mixed methods to find answers to these 2 questions I use questionnaires, interviews and

document review to collect data for my rescarch

Using these tools is more relevant in my study because the ain of this miner thesis

is just a preliminary evaluation of one of the language syllabuses for English major

students Specifically, | use questionnaires to collect information from students and

isachors, and then T inlerview teachers and analyse relevant documents ftom the univesity such as teaching-learmng guidelines, course instructions As mentioned in the literature review, when conducting a course evaluation these tools are frequently used to find out

factors such as course objcclives, malcrials, assessment and time allocation,

The survey questionnaires 10 6 Icachers and 120 students who used the syllabus

a Subjects The subjects! evaluators of the research include two groups

The first group consists of six teachers of English who are responsible for teaching the reading skill at English major division, the Dean and the Vice of the English

Department They are from twenty five to thitty five of age Most of them hold a Master in TESOL, only lwo ars MA candidates, The youngest Icachers have three years of English teaching experience while others have around nine years’ experience Therefore they could bea very reliable source of data

‘The second group of participant consists of 55 second year students and 65 third-

year students, AH of them arc Enylish- major students at the English Department and have

finished the reading load of 3'* semester

b Instruments

Document analy:

In this study, two documents were analyzed, thal is the the overall curriculum of

BA of English which is issued by the English Department with the course objectives (the curriculum for eight semester) and the 3% semester reading syllabus Examining the overall curriculum is to put the reading course in a broader picture of all reading courses and the other macro language skills The 3 semester reading syllabus, as mentioned in the Introduction, was designed by teaching staff of the English Department based on the curieulun mentioned above Il is meant to be Mexibl: and can be amended so thal il ean

meet the expectations of both teachers and learners and suitable with the need of learners

ii, Questionnaires for teachers and students

The questionnaires (Appendix 3) consist of seven questions which mainly focused

on student's attitudes toward the syllabus 'hrough students’ syllabus evaluation, it helps

to reflect on their needs and wants Al questions ware designed for both second and third

year students, Second yoar students were chosen lo answer the questionnaire because they had finished the 3 semester, Data were collected at the end of the academic years, With students answering the questionnaires as soon as they had just finished the reading

component which belongs to the 34 semester reading syllabus, the information can be reliable and make contribution te the next course The fourth year students were not chosen becamse they finished the reading component more than a year before, so they may not remember the sytlabus which they bad implemented and answers to the questionnaires may

not be accurate.

‘To help the informants to understand the questions thoroughly and answer them in

a mest accurate and complete way, one teacher admninistered the questionnaire filling session She was willing to explan any difficult or undamiliar expression The informants were also allowed to write the answers in Vietnamese if they found it not easy to express whal Ihey mean in Fryglish, The answers were then translaled inlo English for analysis and

reporting by the research with editing assistance by a professional translator

Interview with teachers and officials

The interviews were conducted in onc- to — onc situation with six teachers who are

currently in charge of teaching reading skill for English- major division Five open- ended

questions (Appendix 4) were asked to find ont their altitude to the following issues:

- ‘Their comments on the syllabus in terms of objectives and time allocation

+ The suitability of the course books and supplementary materials for the course

- ‘The assessment of students

- The students’ achievement of the objectives of the 3% semester reading syllabus,

+ Their suggestions on how to further improve the syllabus

Similar interviews were also conducted with the Dean and the Viee Dean of English Department at HaUi

All the interviews took place in a fFiendly and open manner Dala Grom the interview were then collated with data from the questionnaires for analysis and interpretation

¢ Data presentation

i, Document and context analysis

1 The curriculum (Appendix 1) During the preparation process of the Bachelor in English for Technical Translation of HaUl, the project board which consists of the Departments of English,

Tochnical Pedagogy and some other departments whose acicutifie and lechnological branches are included in the programe met to discuss the content, sequence and time

allocation of the curriculum With reference to the Bachelor in Koreign Languages

The curriculum consists of twa main paris: the Knowledge of Basie Rdueation and the Knowledge of Major Education The Knowledge of Major Education is divided into

five sub-parts: Linguistic, Literature, General English, Lnglish for Specifie Purposes

(RSP), Graduation Practice and Graduation Exartination,

Knowledge of General Fnglish (GR) sub-parl of the cuzrioulum is distributed through the four first semesters with the aim of developing the four macro- language skills

of students Students are also provided with basic education knowledge such as

Iz

Vietnamese Cultural Foundation, Mansi nis! Philosophy, Practical Vietnamese Language This block of basic cdhication knowledge is laugh in Vietnamese The last tour semesters focus on language theories of translation and interpretation, translation and interpretation practice, American Literature, Western Civilization, Contrastive Linguistic

The strength of the curriculum is thal it is designed with reference to other existing cuticula of other foreign language universities However, the biggest weakness of the cmriculum is that there was no such a precedent program to compare with Many things are new Io the designers and practicality has nol been proved yot

2 The syllabus (Appendix 2)

Al the end of 2005, this was the thu for the preparation of first Finglish major student recruitment, All divisions were responsible for designing syllabus(es), which they are assigned ‘The English Department is responsible for all the subjects taught and learnt in English In the first place, the Division of Language Skills is in charge of creating the syllabuses for the four maero- language skills All the members of the Division of Language Skills, based on the set training goals and the contemporary high school English textbooks, outline the needs In my point of view, this is the first and also the biggest weakness of the syllabus

In the next step, a list of all possible text books available was compiled Among

these books, all teachers discussed and sele the most relevant

to the assumed needs However, the number of collected books was not large This is one

of the limitations for the syllabus design and it could lead to the second weakness in the

preparation of the syllabus Furthermore, the selected books have niol been actually evaluated because of the fact that at that time we did not have any students to develop this

work

According to the syllabus, in the 3° semester, students have 45 class- hours (3

class- hours per weck, and cach class- hours lasts 45 minutes) for reading The book used

is Iuerachon 2 Reuding, McGraw- Hill Contemporary In accordance with the overall curriculum, the objectives of the 3" reading syllabus were set up and approved by the Dean

of the Rnglish Department and members of the Language Skills Division Students are required to effectively use the micro- language skill such as reading for specific information, skimming for main idea, making inferences, predicting reading content, giving comments and discussion, as well as furniliar wilh some common topics which can

be found in ELT (English Language Teaching) course books When these objectives have been achieved, students are to deal with more challenging reading texts in the following

In short, the syllabus has selected rather good course books, which has been proved relevant and reliable in some ofher institutions, The course book contains some farriliar topic such as; education, city life, occupation, lifestyle, medicine

ii, Questionnaire results

‘The questionnaires were filled out and returned by 120 students ‘The return rate

was 100 percent and all of Ihe questionnaires were valid Below are the results and

prominent trends in the questionnaire data

The first question asked about respondenls” satisfaction on the course book In general, students have positive responses, nearly 100% thought that the course book was tsefl (1/8 ar 99% for J and 2 - Ranking ftom 1= very useful to A= useless) in terms of providing them the opportunity to enhance vocabulary as well as reading strategics/ skills (micro- skills) Furthermore, they can practice the basic grammatical structures Students staled thal although chapters in the course book are a bil tong, ths course books were organized with clear support’ guidance for their learning

Table 1 Questionnaires results on content of the course book

Relating to question about the course objectives (Table 2), most of the students held that the course objectives were not clearly expressed (No; 83 or 70 9} These students agreed that the objectives of the syllabus did not reveal specific micro skills and strategies

which help ther improve their reading $

20%) who thought that the syllabus has a clear expression, said that aiter finishing the course book they could understand what the objectives of the syllabus mean I think this is one of the weaknesses of syllabus

Is and be an independent reader Shudlents (25 or

Do you think thal course objeetives are clearly

2

— Students have to imagine the airns and ideas

bofore reading,

— Give comment and discuss main ideas

— Students can discuss author's view and

Evaluate your overall satisfaction with the course

objectives

(Ranking ftom 1 very satisfied to 4 very

Number and percentage

Regarding the topics (able 4) the answers varied, depending on student’s knowledge and their inferests of the topics Fight oul of twelve topies were considered (very) relevant, by over half of the answers selectng 1 and 2 (very relevant and relevant respectively) These topics are Education and student life (No: 90 or 75% for 1 and 2), City life (No: 78 or 66% for | and 2), Business and Money (No: 84 or 71% for | and 2), Joh and Profession (Mo: 95

or 80%) Lifesivle around the world (No: 92 o 78%), Global connection (Xo: 71 of 39%), Language and communication (No: 86 ot 73% for 1 and 2), Medicine, myths and magic (No: 90 or 75%) and The Media (90 ar 75%) However, thore were Ubree (Taste and preference, New frenticrs, With Liberty and justice for all) out of twelve topics considered not to be relevant because of the topic’s difficulty and lacks of references for sludenis Beside, some students assess thal the above topics were very irralsvenl bạt thís nuniber is not remarkable Students said that they prefer adding other topies such as

Fashion, Traditions instead of the difficult ones

Liow relevant are the topics in the course book

to your needs as a second year student? ( Number and percentage

ranking from I very relevant to 5— very

irrelevant)

Topics 1 2 3 4 5 Education and student life 65 25 10 15 5