Luận văn an evaluation of ebp material english in economics and business for economics and business management students in hanoi university of mining and geology

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES, NGUYEN THỊ MAI HƯƠNG AN EVALUATION OF EBP MATERIAL “ENGLISH IN EC

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES,

NGUYEN THỊ MAI HƯƠNG

AN EVALUATION OF EBP MATERIAL “ENGLISH IN ECONOMICS AND

BUSLNESS” FOR ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT

STUDENTS IN HANOI UNTVERSITY OF MINING AND GEOLOGY

(ANH GIA GIAO TRINH TIENG ANH THUONG MAI “ENGLISH IN

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” DANH CHO SINH VIEN KHOA KINH TE VA

QUAN TRI DOANH NGHIEP TRUONG DAI HOC MO - DIA CHAT HANOD

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111

Hanoi, 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOL UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATEONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYEN THỊ MAI HƯƠNG

AN EVALUATION OF EBP MATERIAL “ENGLISH IN ECONOMICS AND

BUSLNESS” FOR ECONOMICS AND BUSLNESS MANAGEMENT

STUDENTS IN HANOI UNTVERSITY OF MINING AND GEOLOGY

(ANH GIA GIÁO TRINH TIENG ANH THUONG MAI “ENGLISH IN

ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” DANH CHO SINH VIÊN KHOA KINH TẾ

VÄ QUẦN TRỊ ĐOANH NGHIỆP FRƯỜNG DAL HOC MO - BIA CHAT HA NOD

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Phuong Nga

Hanoi, 2013

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF TIIE THESIS

T certify my authorship of the thesis submilled loday entitled:

“An Evaluation of EBP Material “English in Economics and Business” for the

Economics and Business Management Students in Llanoi University of Mining and Geology”

in terms of Statement for thesis and Kield Stady Reports in Master’s Programs

Issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương,

Movember, 2013

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

T owe a greal many thanks to so many people who have supported me all the way

throughout my study to this final achievement

This with deep gratitude that T wish to thank Ms Nguyen Phương Nga, Assoiate Professor, Doctor of Philosophy for her wholehearted guidance, valuable suggestions and academic advice during the course of writing this thesis, without

which this work would hardly have 1

en accomplished

Talso wish ta acknowledge all the staff of the Department of Post-Graduate Studies for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master cose for me

with valuable knowledge

I would like to extend my deep appreciation to my colleagues and students at Bnglish Division — Faculty of General Science, Faculty of Beonomics and Business

‘Management, Hanoi University of Mining and Geology

Last, to my family, words are not enough to express my gratitude I am grateful ta

my parents, my dear husband, and my two litle sons Without their help and

encouragement, I could not have completed this study

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Communicative Language Teaching

English for Academic Purposes

English for Business Purposes:

English as A Foreign Language

English for General Business Purposes:

English for Occupational Purposes:

Fnglish for Specific Purposes:

English for Specific Business Purposes:

English for Vocational Purposes

Faoulty of Economics and Business Management:

Lanoi University of Mining and Geology:

Vocational English as a Second Language:

CLT

EAP

EEP ELT HGBP Eor ESP SBP EVP

FEBM

1IMG VESL

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

Figure 1 Diagram of business commmmicalion (Pickett, 1986: 16)

Figure 2 Closing the circle (McGrath, 2005: 180)

Table 1 Comparison of Topics Required in the Material and the Course

Table 2 Teachers and Students’ Percephon of the Appropriatcness of the Matcrial

to the Course objectives

Table 3 Teachers and Students’ Perception of the Appropriateness of the Material’s

1 Rationale gfthe Study kienrersrareror.l

12.1 Definition and Characteristics .cscsccseuene oti nesnennrnee se 1.2.2 English for General Business Purposes and English for Specific

Rusiness PuFp@SES con enrnrerrririrsiioreeiroasE

1.3.1 Definition of Materials .ccsscses sss ied)

1.3.3 Types of Materials Evaluatien

1.3.3.1 Pre— use Evaluation

1.3.3.2 In— use Evaluation

1.3.3.3 Past — use Evaluation

1.3.4 Criteria Tor Matcrials I*valuation

1.3.4.1 Sheldon’s Criteria

1.3.4.2 Hutchinson and Waters’ Criteria

1.4, Previous Researches on Materials Evaluation

CLIAPTER LH: TIS MUTHODOLOG Y oes

2.1 The Current Teaching and Learning Situation at HUMG

2.4, Data Collection Instruments

2.4.1 Survey Questionnaires For Teachers

2.4.2 Survey Qucstionnaires for Sfudenfs

2.4.3 Informat Interviews with Teachers and Students

2.5 Data Collection Procedures 0 cece cece sec

CHAPTER Hl: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

3.1 The Course Objectives

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3.2 The Material Amalysis 000.:c.ccccscssssesesssessseseessssansrensscrseersvnsnnenenss BB

3.2.1 The Description of the Material "dnglish in Economics and

PART IT: CONCLUSION

1 Conclusion àieeenereeresseoorroo đỘẺ

4 Sugpgestons for Further Research — NT

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the Study

English for Specific Purposes (USP), along with the development of English as the most powerful language in the world, has boen a popular field for such a greal of scholars such as Hutchinson and Waters (1987), lan McGrath (2005), Dudley Ivans, and John (2007), and so on Specifically, English for Business Purposes (FBP) has been increasingly growing in (he field of BSP parallel with the expansion

of the global commerce As a result, any Vietnamese Business Administration graduates who long to be recruited by a foreign enterprise need to train themselves really good skills and knowledge of Business English The teaching of FBP has

‘been apparently developing rapidly as well as the increase of various textbooks and material employed However, it is really hard to say which material is more

appropriate or which is less

From the current siluation, the issus here is to chanse a right matenal for learners 10

study EBP cifeetively A great deal of imstitutions and umversities are teaching EBP with different kinds of material he most essential goal here is to satisfy the needs

of studsnis and employers in their future carcer Tho Faculty of Roonomics and

Business Management, Hanoi University of Mining and Geology has started to

facilitate the course book nglish in Economics and Business for USP courses since

2010 However, it is said that this material does not meet the demands of both

students and employers ‘Therefore, this study is conducted with the hope of evaluating this material and explaining why it is suitable with the needs of the students and employers In other words, this study aims at seeking strong pois as well as weak points of this material and suggesting some recommendation to enhance the strength and reduce the weakness to gain the HBP training’s objectives

for sLuderits

2, Scope of the Study

The sludy limits itself to evaluaic the ERP malerial “English in Reonomics and

Business” an KBP text material that has been used at Faculty of Heonomics and Business Management for 5 years It is accomplished in the view of the third year

students who have just finished studying i and teachers who have been using it

3, Methodology

‘This study employs the qualitative approach to evaluate the material Linglish in Economics and Business using survey questionnaires and interviews It specifically aims to address the Following research questions:

"To what degree is this material suitable with the training objectives of the Hanoi University of Mining and Geology?

* What do teachers and students think of the appropriateness of the material?

4, Design of the Study

‘The thesis is composed of three main parts: introduction, developments and

chapter reviews some theories of basic concep! (ESP, ERP, material evaluation)

based on the publications in the field, She also analyses some previous researches in the same field Chapter IL is the methodology In this chapter, the author presents the research methodology and the instruments used 1o colleck data mainly from the

iy

questionnaires The interviews are used to make eloar some misunderstanding in the questionnaires ‘Ihe procedure of collecting data and the analysis of the survey

data will be deseribed carefully

In the Conclusion, the author briefly summarizes the issues that have been

invesligaled and suggesls some implications

PART TI: DEVELOPMENTS CITAPTER T: LITERATURE REVIEW

‘This chapter deals with English for Specific Purposes (HSP), English for Business Purposes (BBP), English for General Business Purposes (EGBP), English for Specific Business Purposes (ESBP) as well as the material’s concepts types and

criteria ‘hen, the chapter discusses relevant findings of researches in the field

1.1 English for Specific Purposes

1.1.1 Definition of ESP

The definition of ESP has been sludied by various scholars around the world The

conductor would like to quote several of them after reviewing materials

“English for Specific Purposes is a lerm that refers to teaching or studying English for a particular career (like law, medicine) or for business in general” (International Teacher Training Organization, 2005) There is a specific reason for which English is learned

Robinson (1991) affirms that ESP is “normally goal — directed”, and that ESP courses develop fiom a ned analysis, which ‘aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of Lnglish’ (Robinson, 1991: 3) (Cited from Dudley — Evans, and John, 2007: 3)

Dudley — Evans, and John (2007); whereas, give their own definition which have

absobde and variable characleristics Tn absohde characteristics, they both agree that ESP is designed to meet the specific needs of the leamer: ESP makes use of the

underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves, and ESP is

centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres

appropriate to these activitics Whereas, in variable characteristics, they state that

LSP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines, SP may be, in specific icaching situation, a different methodology from thal of general Fnglish: ESP is likely to be designed for adult leamers, either at a tertiary level institution or ina professional work situation It could, however, be used for leamers at secondary school level, and FSP is generally dosigned for intermediale or advanced sludents Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be

used with beginners

Lutchinson and Waters (1987:19) states that “SP must be seen as an approach not

as a product” ESP is not a kind of language or methodology, nor does it consist of

4 particular type of leaching matorial Understood properly, il is an approach Lo

language learning, which is based on leamer needs

Tn brief, the author would like to follow the definition of Hulchinson and Waters

because the two writers reach amodern ideology here “learner centered”

Although these scholars have their own ideas on ESP, they all share the same

opinion that LISP has certain characteristics as follows: LSP is designed to meet specific needs of learners; FSP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves; ESP is centered in the language (grammar,

lexis, and register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities

1.1.2 A Brief Classification of ESP

Hutchinson and Waters (1987.16) stales thal ESP has two main Lypes according to

whether the leamer requires Unglish for academic study (ZAP: Unglish for Academic Purposes) or for work/ training (BOP/ EVP/ VESL: English for Occupational Purposes’ English for Vocational Purposes’ Vocational English as a

Second Language) The target Icamers of EAP arc gcncrally at schools and they need Uinglish in their study Meanwhile, LOP is used as part of learners’ work or

oecupation, for inslance, to commurticale wilh Lourists (a tour guide), to persuade

the customer (a salesman) ‘The crucial point here is that HSP course which will take place depends mainly on whether the leamers are studying English before, during or

afier the time they arg taught in their job

With reference to Dudley — Evans & John (2007: 7) classifies EBP as a category

wilhin EOP EBP is sometimes seen as separals from EOP as it involves a lol of

General Linglish as wel! as Specific Purposes Linglish, and also because it is such a large and important category A business purpose is, however, an occupational purpose, so it is logical la sec iL is part of ROP

These classifications are, of course, not a clear — cut distinction: people can work

and slady simultancously, it is also likely that im many cases dhe language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up,

or returns Lo, a job

1.2 English for Business Purposes

1.2.1 Definition and Characteristics

With reference to Dudley & Jo (2007:54}, Business English is difficult to define

and limit in linguistic term Pickett (1986:16) emphasizes the fact that there is more than one face to business communication with some of it being ‘a lot nearer the

everyday language spoken by the general public than many other segments of ESP”

Additionally, Picket iirnduces the diagrammatic represenlation in’ which he

suggests two particular aspects to business communication: communication with the

public and communication within (intra) a company or between (inter) companies

as [olfow:

general English

communication with public

Business English

communication among businesses

specialized language of particular businesses Figure 1 Diagram of Business Communication (Pickett, 1986: 16)

Pickett's distinction is useful, however, it is probably not fine enough for today’s

wide — ranging business activities Even within a particular business, the language

requirements of the team negotiating, for instance recruiting and board meeting may

be comparatively different This is because the purposes of the interactions, the topics covered and the professional relationship will all affect the choice of language (Dudley & Jo, 2007:55)

Moreover, according to Ellis and Johnson (2003: 3), Business English must be seen

in the overall context of ESP, as it shares the important elements of needs analysis,

syllabus design, course design, and material selection and development which are

common to all fields of work is ESP as with other varieties of ESP, Business English implies the definition of a specific language corpus and emphasis on particular kinds of communication in a specific context However, Business English

differs from other varieties of ESP in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to general ability to communicate more effectively, albeit in business

situations)

1.2.2 English for General Business Purposes and English for Spccitic Business Purposes

‘The distinction between EGBP and ESBP is extremely essential for the course

designers, researchers, teachers and learners to plan objectives or choose suitable

materials for ihe cerlam contexts Ellis and Jobson (2003) affirm the crucial factor

which influences most to the course leamers ‘hey assign learners into two kinds

— pre — experience (ar low — experience) and job — experienced leamers Pre — experienced language learners are those smdying, for example, Business Studies or Trade Commerce at schools, colleges, or universities and job experienced language learners are those coming from companies or other business institutions:

managers, office staff and other professionals.’

According to Dudley & Jo (2007-55), EGBP courses are usually for pre — experience leamcrs or those at the very carly stages of (heir carcor They are similar

to general EFL courses with the material set in business contexts Many leamers

altend these courses al a language school and groups will usually be formed on the

basis of language level rather than job The vooabulary range of EGBP books

clearly differs substantially from that of EGP but the language activities are core FFI ones and the answers are oflen predictable with more close, right? wrong xesponses than unpredictable, open responses As a result, the language which leamers acquire is less practical and theoretical Whereas, ESBP courses are run for

job — experienced learners who bring business knowledge and skills to the language

learning situation ‘hese courses are carefully tailored and likely to focus on one

or two language skills and specific business communicative events The material

oflen include selections from a range of published books, framework material and

specially written activities, probably stemming from the leamer’s own business

context.

visual aids (lan MeGrath, 2005: 7),

In this study, the conductor would like to mention ext materials (textbook) only for hor analysis ard evaluation lalter on

1.3.2 Materials Evaluation

Llutchinson and Waters (1987: 96) state that evaluation is a matter of judging the

fitness of something for a particular purpose Given a certain need, and in the light

of the resources available, which out of possibilities can represent the best solution? TivaluaHơn is, then, concerned with relative merit There is no absolute good or bad

— only degrees of fitness for the required purpose

Cumningsworth (1995) and Hllis (1997) suggest that textbook evaluation helps teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and it helps them to acquire

useful, accurate, systemalic, and contextual insights into the overall nature of

textbook materials ‘l'extbook evaluation, therefore, can potentially be a particularly

worthwhile means of conducting action research as well as a form of professional empowerment and improvement Similarly, texthook cvalualion can also be a

valuable component of teacher training programs for it serves the dual purpose of making student teachers aware of important features to look for in textbooks while familiarizing them wilh a wide range of published language instruction materials

‘Yomlinson (2005: 15) affirms that materials evaluation is a procedure that involves

measuring the value (or potential value) of a set of learning material It involves amaking judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using thom He

also states that an evaluation is not the same as an analysis lt can mclude an

analysis or follow from one, but the objectives and procedures are different An

evaluation focuses ou the users of the materials and makes judgments about their effects No matter how structured, criterion referenced and rigorous an evaluation

is, it will be essential subjective On the other hand, an analysis focuses on the

imalcrials and if aims Lo provide an objective analysis on then Tl ‘asks questions about what the materials contain, what they aim to achieve and what they ask Jeamers to do’ (Tomlinson, 1999: 10)

Materials evaluation, according to Dudley & Jo (2007:128), is a whole process that begins with determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about

change in current activities or inthacncing future ones

Obviously, Hutchinson and Wallers’s definition is most, urtiversally accepied

because of its focus on learners’ purposes learner centered approach

13.3 Types of Materials Evaluation

Regarding types of materials evaluation, Bilis (1997) divides materials evaluation

ilo three lypes: Prelaninary, Formative and Summative evaluation

Similarly, Tomlinson (2005) and Im McGrath (2005) also categorize materials evaluation into Unce stages which seems to be the most widely accopled He stalos

that matcrials evaluation is composed of 3 stages: pre — use, in—use, and post— use

evaluation In this study, the researcher would like to follow Ian McGrath's

calogorization because of its clear distinction and explanation

In—usse evaluation gathers data on

Pre — use evalustion

response, may stimulate preliminary

reconsiderations af selection criteria

Post — use evaluation uscd data on i=

course use and dala on eflecls Lo assess suitability of selection and selection

procedures

Figure 1 Closing the circle (McGrath, 2005: 180}

1.3.3.1 Pre — use Evaluation

According lo Tomlinson (2005: 23), pre — use evaluation involves making

predictions about the potential vaiue of materials for their users It can be context

free, as in a review of materials for a journal, context — influenced as in a review of

draft material for a publisher with target users in mind or context — dependent, as

when a teacher selects a course book for use with her particular class Often pre

used evaluation is impressionistic and consists of a teacher flicking through a book

fo gain a quick inspression of its polenlial value (publishers are well aware of this

procedure and sometimes place attractive illustrations in the top right hand comer

of the right — hand page in order †o influence the flicker in a positive way) Even a

review (or a publisher or journel, and an evaluation for a ministry of cducalion is

ll

often ‘fundamentally a subjective, rule of thumb activity’ (Sheldon, 1988: 245) and often mistakes are made, Making an evaluation criterion referenced can reduce (bul nol remove) subjectivity and ean cerlainly belp to make an evaluation more prineipled, rigorous, systematic and reliable ‘Chis is especially true if more than two

evaluators conduct the evaluation independently and then average their conclusions

1.3.3.2 In — use Evaluation

With reference to Tomlinson (2005: 24), this involves measuring the value of materials whilst using them or whilst observing them being used It can be more objective and reliable than pre — use evaluation as it makes use of measurement rather Ian prediction However, it is hmited to messuring wbal is observable ( ,

“Are the instruction clear to the leamers?”) and cannot claim to measure what is happening in the leamers’ brains It can measure short — term memory through observing Jeamer performance on exercises bul it cannot measure durable and effective leaning because of the delayed effect of instruction It is therefore very useful but dangerous too, as Inachers and observers can be misled by whether the

activities scm to work or not

Bxactly what can be measured in an in — use evaluation is controversial: however,

he includes the following criteria: clarily of instructions, clarily of layout, comprehensibility of texts, credibility of tasks, achievability of tasks, achievement

of performance objectives, potential for localization, practicality of the materials,

teaohabilily of the materials, Qexibility of the malcrials, appeal of the materials, motivating power of the materials, impact of the materials, effectiveness in facilitating short — term learning Most of these can be estimated during an open — cnded, impressionistic observation of materials in usc but greater reliability can be achieved by focusing on one criterion at a time and by using pre prepared

instruments of measurement.

1.3.3.3 Post — use Evaluatian

Post — use evaluation is probably the ost valuable (bul least administered) lype of

evaluation as il can measure Lhe actual effects of dhe materials on the users 1 can

measure the short — term effect as regards motivation, impact, achicvability, instant leaming, etc., and it can measure the long — term effect as regards durable learning and application (Tomlinson, 2005: 25)

Post —use evaluation can answer such important questions as

What do the learners know which they did not know before starting to use the materials?

What do the learners still not know despite using the materials?

What can the learners do which they could not do befare slarting to use the

materials?

What can the learners still not do despite using the materials?

Tn other words, 1 can measure the actual oulcomes of the use of the materials and

thus provide the dala on which reliable decisions about the usc,

adaplalion or

replacement of the materials can be made

Ways of measuring the post use effects of materials include,

tests of what has been ‘taught’ by the materials,

tests of what the students can do,

cxaminations,

interview,

questionnaires;

criterion referenced evaluations by the users;

post — course diaries,

post — course ‘shadowing’ of the leamers;

post course reports on the leamers by employers, subject tutors, etc.

The main problem, of course, is that it takes time and expertise to measure post — use effects reliably (especially as, to be really revealing, there should be raeasurement of pre — use attiludes and abililies in order to provide data for post —

‘use comparison)

Tm this study, the researcher would employ post — use evaluation method to evaluate

the assigned material because of its reliability and usefulness to provide important information about the appropriateness of the material

1.3.4, Criteria for Materials Evaluation

The aim to usc crileria for materials cvalualion is to “reach a decision regarding

what needs to be evahwted” (l'omlinson, 1998:220) ‘This means they are the

foundation upon which evaluators depend when making judgments Therefore, one

of the most important sleps that evaluator should spend time om is defining

evaluation criteria

According to Dudley — Evans & John (2007), criteria for materials evaluation

depend on what is being evaluated and why they need to be evaluated Regarding

criteria for materials evaluation, in the literature many experts (Iutchinson and

Waters, 1987; Sheldon, 1988; Ellis and Johnson, 1994; Wallace, 1998; Tomlinson,

2005) have suggested certain sets of criteria in the forms of checklists or guidelines These scholars go to two main schools of evaluation: the one focuses mainly in the

content of the malerial with Hutchinson and Walers as representatives; the other

focuses on both the appearance and content of the materials with Sheldon as

representative In this study, the author reviews these two schools which seem to be the most relevant and popular to materials cvaluntion.

1.3.4.1 Sheldon’s Criteria

Sheldon (1988) suggesls such a wide range of criteria thal can be appliod for almost aspects of materials, She offers a checklist containing a great s of “key questions” for the evaluators to find the answer when evaluating materials They include raliomale, avaitabilily, usor definition, layoul/ graphic, accessibility, linkage, selection’ grading, physical characteristics, appropriacy, authenticity, sufficiency, cultural bias, educational validity, stimulus’ practice/ revision, flexibility, guidance,

and overall value for money

As it can be seen, Sheldon states to some cxicnt Inany critena to evalnale the

materials Most dimensions of the materials are under investigated, which leads to some major issues or example, layout/ graphic or physical characteristics required

to be evaluated by graphic designers or appearance designers of the materials As a

vesult, evaluator needs a great deal of time and effort to accomplish this kind of work

1.3.4.2 Hutchinson and Waters’ Criteria

As mentioned before, evaluation involves making judgments which means the

evaluator needs crileria for comparative analysis Hutchinson and Walers (1987)

have their own system of criteria’ They concentrale mainly on evaluating the

content of the book itself Generally, their opinions focus on the following points:

First, according to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), audience of the book is a leaner centered approach, the biggest aim of the HSP course is to meet the needs of leamers The book therefore should be designed with its focus on leamers' demands As a result, the first and foremost criterion in materials evaluation is the audicuce such as personal information (age, sex, study or professional arca), work experience, language level, cultural and educational background, and so on,

Sccondly, evaluator must find cut whether the materials can satisfy the aims and

objectives of the language course

‘The third criterion of the checklist which Lfutchinson and Waters (1987) affirm is the content of the materials This includes language description, language points covered, proportion of work on each macro — skill, micro skills needed, text Lypes

which should be meluded, so on and so forth

The fourth criterion is the methodology TLis conmon knowledge that methodology plays such a crucial role in the achievement of a language course It pays attention

to leamers’ expectation from the course, task types, teaching techniques as well as aids, ote,

Beside these four criteria, others are also added such as: the materials’ price, quantities are some aspects which the evaluator should pay notice of beside the

above criteria

Based on the two sots of criteria above, it is son that we can cvaluate almost aspects of teaching materials using Sheldon’s criteria However, this process would require a lot of time and effort, and even hard to apply because to evaluate everything at the same time is unrealistic In reality, specific premier criteria should

be chosen to make evaluation yet manageable In this research, the criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) will be applied because of their

suitability with the real ESP circumstance in HUMG’s context

14, Previous Researches on Matcrials Evaluation

There have been a certain of studies carried out by researchers to evaluate

published or it — house teaching materials, cach of which may make use of different

approach to materials valuation However, they all demonstrate how materials evaluation provides feedback for improvement and modification The author would

like to mention several of works which have the same topic — materials evaluation.

The first rescarch is “dn Evaluation of Material “Business Objectives” for Students

at Hanoi University of Business and Management” by Dung (2004) ‘This study aimed to evalusie the tmalerial in lerms of objectives, conlonts, methodology and ta determine whether the material is suitable to the students with regards to their level

of English The methodology employed was document analysis, questionnaire and interviews Aller collecting the data, the rescarcher coneladed about the suilabilily

of the book to the objectives of the course aud the content requirements She also

stated some recommendations and suggestions hased on research findings

Huyen (2005) accomplished a study which was “An Evaluation of EBP Material

“Business Venture 2” for the Second Year Business Administration Students in Haiphong Private University in the light of CLT” The author used CLT as a main goal to evaluate the material using qualitative research method including survey

questionnaires, interview and direct class observation She noticed some serious problems from both teachers and students are time pressure, the book’s unbalanced

skill focus, inadequate business terms and practice exercise provision as well as the class size Those elements put together show tremendous demand for the material

adaplation, which was clearly explained by the author

Nhan (2006) made a research named ‘dn evaluation of the textbook “Oxford English for Flectronics” and suggestions for new materials design” This siudy was carried out with the purpose of finding out the perception of both teachers and

students of a course hook which is used at the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications, College of Technology, Vielnarn National University, Hanoi

‘The research was conducted at macro level and aimed to check the general

effectiveness of the particular material after using it The methods used in this study were survey questiormaires for boll teachers and students who are using the book,

interviews for teachers and informal discussion with the students of College of

Technology through their own forum Nhan found out that beside several strang points especially in formal’ organization and clectranic content, the textbook

Oxford English for Electronics still leaves some gaps that need to bridge regarding, language, skill, and methodology areas, She then made some changes about those

weak dimensions

One of the common points in these researches is that they all used Ifutchinson and

Waters’ crileria (1987) to evaluate (heir materials This demonstrates the

cffcotivencss of these criteria and thoroughly helps the author conduct her study

The researcher also found out that questionnaires, interviews, class observation seem lo be popular methods to colleet data [or matcrials evaluation Tn this sludy, the author would employ survey questionnaires and informal unstructured interviews Informal as well as unstructured interviews are used after analyzing survey questionnaire dala with lhe purpose of gelling more objective information

about the material in order to increase the credibility of the evaluation.

CHAPTER IL: THE METHODOLOGY

This chapter describes the practical situation of teaching and leaming ESP at HUMG and the methodology employed in this study It particularly provides a discussion on how to conduct an evaluation of teaching material with an aim to improve the effectiveness of the material for future use The chapter also consists of research methods, participants, data collection instruments, and data collcetion

Training They are apparently supposed to be at low — intermediate Rasic English level ‘he course book they had finished was “New English Mile 2” (Oxeden,

1997) Actually, the students at ITUMG are mixed in terms of their English levels

They have very different backgrounds, some have studied Fngli

since primary schools, however, the others secm to start Icaming English at the tertiary education As a result, when grouped in the same class, they vary in not only their English levels but also their learning slyles, which have a huge influenee on the teaching and learning English

Some characteristics of the Business English Course, of the survey students and the teachers should be generally described As a matter of facl, al Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, Business Management students need to complete Knglish courses in 3 semesters, two of which are for basic English with the materials: “New English File 2” (Oxcden, 1997) and the next term is for English for Business Linglish with the material: “Linglish in ’conomios and Business”,

Another problem is that teaching methods at HUMG are formal teacher — centered approach with the emphasis on grammar and lexis Consequently, a great of students slay passive in class This is a common fealure for both Basie English and ESP classes at KHBM, HUMG As a matter of fact, some students still prefer working on their own or sitting quietly to joining discussions Moreover, they tend

to (ranslale words lo words, sentences by scnlences inte their mother tongue while

reading, ‘Ihese issues definitely need to be changed by a suitable material and

reasonable adaptation to meet students’ needs

Beside toaching and Icaring styles matcrial also plays such an important part in the coursesuccess While the previous course book “New English File 2” (Oxeden, 1997) motivated students (o earn Rughsh quite effectively, iLis nol a likelihood (hat the current material “Knglish in Economics and Business” encourage them to work Teaching and leaming ESP at FEBM, HUMG bear a great deat of issues which need solving However, in this size of a small research, (he aulhor would evaluate te material based on opinions of teachers and students towards it ‘Ihis aims to see whether the smaterial is appropriate to students’ needs or not

2.2 Research Methodology

2.2.1 Research Questions

‘The author uses the qualitative approach using survey questionnaires and interviews

to evaluate the material “English in Economics and Business” These instruments are employed lo answer the following research questions

" To what degree is this material suitable with the training objectives of the Hanoi University of Mining and Geology?

"What do teachers and students think of the appropriateness of the material?

2.2.2, Survey Ques ionnaire

According to Domyei (2003: 3), because the essence of scientific research is wying

to find answers to questions in a systematic manner, it is no wonder that the questionnaire bas bovome one of the most popular roscurch instzuenls applied in the social sciences Questiomaires are cotainly the most often employed data collection devices in statistical work The main attraction of questiomaires is their unprecedented efficiency in terms of researcher’s time, effort, and financial resources By administering a questionnaire to a group of people, one can collect a huge amount of information in less than an hour, and the personal investment! required will be a fraction of what would have been needed for, say, interviewing the same of people Furthermore, if the questionnaire is well constructed, processing the data can also be fast and relatively straightforward, especially by using some modern computer software These cost — benefit considerations are very important, particularly [or all those who are doing research in audition lo having a

full — tame job (Gillham, 2000)

Therefore, aiming to investigate the perception of teachers and students of the

material from the students and teachers who are using the book, the researcher

chooses survey questionnaires as the best approach, Furthermore, this kind of data

collection instrument fitted this study’s size What is more, students and teachers

may feel more comforlable to complete the questions than direct, interviews or discussions As a result, the validity and reliability of the data collected are

significantly increased

information for confusing data after collecting survey questionnaire results

1.3 Participants of the Survey

HUMG is a 47 — year — old university with 13 specific departments “English in Economics and Business” is taught to second year students at Faculty of Bconomics and Business Management In this research, the author invited teachers

and students who are working with the material to evaluate it

2.3.1 The Teachers

As assigned by the Leader of Forcign Languages Division at HUMG sinve 2009, one group of 4 teachers is responsible for teaching English in Economics and Business to second — year students Up to now, they have been participating in leaching the material for $ years Three teachers obtained Master Degree and one is completing her Master Course Tt is noleworthy thal the whole group has no ESP background about Economies and Business Therefore, their teaching shortcomings

have been constantly observed As admitted by some teachers, their Limited

Business English knowledge prevents thom from teaching effectively Another problem is that none of the teachers have been trained in any English speaking countries Apparently, they are not really confident when teaching speaking or listening skills As a result, lessons are mainly given in Vietnamese Last but not leasl, time pressure performs as an obslacle in teachers’ job Tn such a short time (75 classes), teachers have to teach 64 readings with 17 various topics, thercfore, only some certain parts of the book are covered All of these problems have been affected to the progress in the teaching effectiveness of “English in Economics and Business” to students at HUMG

opinions about ihe approprialenoss of the material ESP course is the selective one

for 3 majors and all sladents chosen to collec! dala were 130, meluding 50 students from Economics major, 40 from Accountant major and 40 [rom Business

‘Management

TL cau be seen that second — year siudenls at HUMG have acquired low —

titermediate General English However, “English in Reonomics and Business” still quakes them foel dHlicull because 1L deals with some specific economic issues,

together with great deals of new lexis

2.4 Data Collection Instruments

24,1, Survey Questionnaires For Tcachers

The researcher made use of the survey questionnaires to investigate teachers’

opinions on (he ialerial with regards to the course objectives, contents and

imethodology as well as the suggestions for matcrial development The survey questionnaire is in Appendix 1 of the Thesis

The survey questionnaire is aimed at gathering teachers’ opinions on the material under evaluation It comprises 3 sections with 43 questions Section 1 includes 4 Yes/No questions referring to the appropriateness of material objectives with those

of the course Section 2 consists of 35 five — point Likert scale questions assessing the appropriateness of the material’s contents and methodology to the course There are 1 Yes/No questions in section 3 which mainly deals with the suggestions that

teachers think should be made to the material development

‘The simplicity and time saving characters are the advantages of this kind of survey questionnaires Any ambiguous items were made clear with informal

interviews later on

2.4.2 Survey Questionnaires for Students

Together with survey questionnaire for teachers, another questionnaire is designed

to mvestigale students’ attitudes towards (he book in Lerms of the course objectives,

the contents and methodology as well as suggestions for material development The survey questionnaire in English is in Appendix 2, and in Vietnamese is in Appendix

3 of the Thesis

The questionnaire is also in 3 sections with similar format as questionnaires for

teachers, but with less questions Section 1 with 4 Yes/ No questions deals with the

appropriateness of the material objectives There arc 33 five — point Likert scale items in sections 2 concerning the contents and methodology of the material to the coursercquiremonts Section 3 with 4 Yes/No items refers to the suggestions thai students think should be added to the material, ‘The advantage of these kinds of questions is that the data collection and analysis are much faster and easier Moreover, for [ear of any misunderstanding among students with the survey questionnaires, all items were translated into Vietnamese ‘Therefore, the accuracy

of their responses is ensured and they are much happier to answer these questions in

ther mother tongus, im fact

2.4.3 luformal Interviews with ‘l'ecachers and Students

Together with survey questionnaires for teachers and students, another method used was informal interviews The purpose of the interviews is to clarify some issues collected by questionnaires The dala from the inferviews was then used together with the data collected from the material analysis and the two questionnaires to give

a full and detailed picture of the material

2.5 Data Collection Procedures

Data collection was conducted via questionnaires for both the teachers and the

students The student survey was administered in the last English class meeting of

the course by the author The students were asked to complete the questionnaires

sight at class so that the researcher could explain amy questions raised by students Another survey questionnaire was sent to teachers and they were requested ta

complete aud return the questionnaires in one week fo ensure that they would have

enough time to give detailed and accurate information,

After delivering the survey questionnaires, the author collected the data Then, due

to the data’s inequality, the author recoded the two survey questionnaires, specifically m seetion 2 from live — scale items into three — scale ones This aims to generalize the statistics, compare and contrast between the two sides teachers and students, In addition to the two questionnaires for teachers and students, informal, unstructured interviews are also employed for some ambiguous Hems The results before and after recoding are in Appendix 4, 5, 6, 7

CHAPTER HI: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Chapter II provides a brief description of the book in use for second — year students

at EBM, HUMG and the course objectives as prescribed by the English Division at TIUMG It also reports and discusses the document analysis and survey results

3.1 The Course Objectives

According io the syllabus designed by ESP division at FEBM, HUMG in 2013, the training objectives are

After studying the course, the learners should master knowledge and skills as

follows:

Knowledge,

i Remember and use English economics terms (about 1,000 terms)

ii, Understand some major economic concepts and issues, such as: the

market economy, history of economic theories, macroeconomics,

microeconomics, etc

Skills,

iii Communicate directly in English about specific economic situations,

such as contract negaliations, discussions, sales communications, cle

iv Listen comprehensively economic lectures or presentations

v Write short texts about economic issues

vị Present amd discuss some basic economic issucs in English,

Tt can be said that these objectives are too general and immeasurable while teachers

and students needs them be clearer and more detailed Therefore, teachers can write

Jesson plans or organize activities as well as tasks to help their students gain the

course objectives

tạ

3.2 The Material Analysis

3.2.1, The Description of the Material “fnglish in Economics and Business”

As menlioned above, ihe second phase of English language teaching al HUMG is characterized by a focus on ESP with an emphasis on business content The material

“English in Economics and Business” has been chosen as ESP material since 2009 for 3 majored students It has been believed that it is the most suitable one for them After $ years using the material, it tums out that some of its parts are considered

imelevant to students while some others are relevant

The material “Enghivk in Foonomics and Business” isa 186 — page — long Icaghers

ts were collected

collection of reading material in Economics and Busmess The

from various textbooks, popular books on business and economies, reports from different development agencies, and articles written by various writers Then, ESP

teachers and an American teacher tailored all the texts to fit the skill level and

imlerests of the students al FERM, HUMG In add

nm to, new vooabulary was

extravied from cach reading to creaie a word ist for cach chapter, exercises to practice vocabulary, grammar, and use of language on that particular subject were designed ‘I'he material consists of 64 readings on 17 different subjects, based on the

basic subjects that the students are required to study

Regarding the proportion of the four macro — skills, reading is the most focused skill in the material All the lopics are presented in passages and followed by comprehension questions, then grammar points introduced and vocabulary exercises, In short, reading skill is the only macro skill that is concentrated

3.2.2 The Appropriateness of the Material to the Course Objectives

The appropriateness of the material is identified by analyzing the matcrial objectives against the course objectives

After 5 years of teaching oxpoticnce the author found out that st is appropriate to low intermediate business students with special emphasis on reading skill Finishing studying this material, students are expected to achieve the foltowing

objectives:

a Know and remember a of economic terms (about 1500 words)

b Understand and remember economic concepts and issues presented

c Understand grammar points and use them in particular subjects

The malorial is applied without ic

sure (hal the urns laught exact

according to the syllabus

As far as it can be seen, course objectives have 6 points Particularly, the first abjective set out by the English Division at HUMG is to remember 1,000 economic terms while this material equips students with 1,500 ones The second core objective requires students to train in the topics such as the market economy, history

of economic theories, macroeconomics, microeconomics, ets Actually, the material has alrcady provided reading texts in these topics

Nevertheless, the material does not train 4 course objectives (ie (iii) Communicate diroully in English aboul specific economic situations, such as contract negotiations, discussions, sales communications, etc, (iv) Listen comprehensively economic

lechues or presentations, (v) Wrile short texts aboul economic issues, (vi) Present

and discuss some basic ceonomic issues in English) Therefore, it is necessary to

have supplementary materials and more time to train students these skills

In summary, the analysis of the material to the course objectives reveals that the book only meets the requirements of the course in terms of improving the students” knowledge However, concerning listening, speaking and writing skills, the malorial fails to provide teachers with tasks and activities to train students and help them develop the required skills Thus, the material should be delivered with an

accompany of supplementary matcrials thal could train students int he roxpaired skills

3.2.3 The Appropriateness of the Matcrial to the Content Requirements

‘The appropriateness of the material to the content requirements of the course was identified by the comparison between the content requirements of the course and the

confer found im the material These requirements were uscd as the critena to

analyze the material in this evaluation research

The topic requirersents and the topics required in the book and course are shown in the ‘Table 1 below:

TOPICS REQUIRED IN THE TOPICS REQUIRED BY THE

No

Chapter T: The market economy The Market Economy

* Market Capitalism

© The Basic Reonmmnic Problem

@ = The Market Mechanism