Luận văn tìm hiểu những khó khăn trong việc Đọc hiểu tiếng anh thương mại của sinh viên tr

English for Legal Purposes English Language Teaching English for Medical Purposes English for Occupational Purposes English far Specific Purposes English for Science and Technology ‘Thai

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, ITANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

—eflo—- ĐĂNG THỊ NGỌC ANH

ASTLDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN READING ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT UNIVERSITY OF ECONGMICS ANT BUSINESS:

ADMINSTRATION — THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY AND SOME

IMPLICATIONS

Tìm hiểu những khó khăn trong việc đọc hiểu tiếng Anh Thương mại

của sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh tế và Quản trị Kinh doanh —

Dai hoc Thái Nguyên và một số giải nháp

MLA Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Cade: 60 14.10

TIANOT — 2010

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, TANOT TNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES

—o0e—

DANG THT NGOC ANTI

ASTUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACET: BY STUDENTS EN READING

ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION — THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY AND

SOME IMPLICATIONS

Tim hiéu nhing khé khan trong việc đọc hiểu tiếng Anh Thương mại

của sinh viên trường Dại học Kinh tế và Quản trị Kinh doanh —

Đại học Thái Nguyên và một số giải pháp

M.A Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: Pham Thi Hanh, MA

HANOT - 2010

‘TABLES OF CONTENTS

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

L Rationale -

2 The significance of the study

3 Aims of the sludy

4 Methad of the studly

5 Scope of the study

6 Organization of the study

Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.L ESP ‘Teaching and Learning

1.1.1 Definitions of ESP

1.1.2 Types of ESP

1.1.3 The differences between General Fi

1.2 Businoss Eryglish —a type of ESP

1.2.3, Performance objectives for Business English

1.2.4, Content of Business English course

2.1, Infroduetion of Thai Nguyen University of Economies and BỊ

2.2 Objectives of the ESP course at'TUEBA

2.3, Materials of the ESP couse

2.4 The problems in teaching and leaming ESP at TUEBA

2.4.6 Problems on the part of the teachers

2.4.2 Probloms on the part af the

3.3 Data collection method

3.3.1 Data collection instrument

3.3.2 Data collection procedure

3.3.3 Data analysis

3.4 Sunumary

Chapler 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

4.1 Questionnaire Results and Interpretation

41.4, Student’s purposes of leaming English and Jearning to zcad English

4.1.2 Attitudes towards foreign language skills in the students’ future work and the

4.1.3, Views on LSP teaching and Jeaming materials -35 4.1.3.1 Students’ favorite reađing mmaterials - -35 4.1.3.2 Difficult materials to tsach and lesm

4.2.1 The studonts’ difficultics in doaling with ESP roading texts and matezials

4.2.2, The causes of the students" điẾÄiculties ò sec

Chapter 5 IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPROVING READING SKILLS OF BUSINESS

5.1.1 Awarcness of the importance of reaiting skill and role of the FSP course .48

5.2.2 Development of reading slrategics and Lechmiques

5.2.3 Development of extensive reading habits

5.2 For the teachers

5.2.1, Improvement of background knowledge of Business

5.2.2 Enhancement of ESP teaching methodology,

5.3, For the materials

5.3.1, improvement of reading materials

5.2.3 Awareness of the stndent's needs in designing the materials

1, Summary of the study - - - 38

REFERENCES

APPENDIX

Questionnaire for the students (English version)

Questionnaire for the students (Vietnamese version)

Questionnaire for the teachers (Linglish version)

English for Legal Purposes English Language Teaching English for Medical Purposes English for Occupational Purposes English far Specific Purposes

English for Science and Technology

‘Thai Nguyen University of Technology Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry

‘Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration

TABLE OF FIGURES AND CHARTS

Figure |: FSP classification by oxpericnce (Robinson, 1991: 3-4)

Figure 2; ESP classification by professional area (Evans, T D and St John, 1998: 6) Figure 3: Continuum of ELT course types (Dndley-Evans and SI John, 1998:9)

Chart 1: Sindent’s purposes of learning English

Chart 2: Student’s purposes of learning to read English series Charl 3: Alitudes lowards forzign language skills in students? fulure work

Chart 4: Views of the role oŸ ESP c0066 ài in theo mieeee

Chart 5: Students’ favorite reading materials

Chart 6: Types of difficult texts and materials .cccesesessssssseressnesaesessesseeiariananotsie

Chart 7: Attitudes towards current ESP reading materials

Chart 8; Students’ difficulties in vocabulary

Chart 9: Students’ difficulties in grammar

Charl 10: Students’ difficultics in reading skill

Chart 11: Causes of students’ difficulties

Charl 12; Students* expectations of ESP reading raatetidls con

Chart 13: Students’ expectations of teaching methodology .:esesuesstuesieestesieesase Chart 14; Students’ aclivities to improve their ESP reading skill

PART ONE: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

English for Specific Purpose, or ESP for short, is a pedagogy in which the syllabus,

contents and methods are determined according to the needs of leamers’ specialized subjects

(Ping Duan & Weiping Gu, 2004:1) In the past 20 ycars, the cxplosion in business and

communication technology has revolutionized the field of tinglish language teaching, and has yadically shifled the attention of course designers from teaching English for Academie

Purposes to teaching English for more specialized purposes ESP can be regarded as an

indispensable part of our life, without which a lot of good opportunities may be missed

ESP tcaching has become a popular trend in English language (caching in the world in

general and in Victnam in particular, especially since Victnam joined the imtcmational

economy Nowadays, ESP is one of the main subjects taught in the curriculum in most universities and colleges in Vietnam The main objective of BSP courses is to prepare

thousands of specialists for the language required by the learner’s future work, or overseas

studies

English for Business is a novel develupment of Fnghish for Specifie Purposes brought

about by the demand of society for improving students’ abilities in communicating business

information At Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUPBA), the stufents are trained with their Business profession mostly in their mother

tongue After completing General English in the first three semesters, they advance from the

first glimpse to more in-depth lessons of Linglish for Business with the aim of acquiring the ability to read and understand their professional knowledge in English and serving (heir

further study as well as fiture jobs However, the problem is that the students are rarely

satisfied with their reading comprehension in reading ESP text and materials despite their

efforts They are sometimes blamed for having poor rzading skill or not making cnough effort

Nevertheless, the students are not always at fault Other factors such as materials, teaching

imethods, Ihe teaching and learning altitude must also he cunsideredd

As a mualter of fact, iLis necessary lo have @ clase look al and find out the reasons for the difficulties students’ encounter at TUEBA in dealing with their materials in English for

Tuisiness On identifying the problems, it is hoped that the stdy will propose some possible suggestions for improving students’ ESP reading skills

2, The significance of the study

‘the sindy highlights the difficulties that students at ‘rhai Nguyen University of Economies and Business Administration (TURBA) encounter when dealing with their specialized materials, Basing on these, solutions can be proposed in order to help students to overcome the problems and improve their reading comprehension in Engtish for Business cffkotivcly, it is hoped that the findings of this study will be uscful for both students and teachers of ESP at TUEBA and other institutions as well,

3 Aims of the study

‘The primary purposes of this study are to describe the problems of ESP students in dcating with thoir reading materials at TUEBA, their causcs and how to reduce the difficulties

Tn particular, the study is dasigmed with the hope to aohieve the aims as follows

© To discover stndents and teachers’ attitudes towards [SP teaching and learning

at TUEBA,

» To investigafs the present situation of ESP teaching and learning al TUEBA in

order to identity the students’ difficulties in ESP reading and their causes,

* To propose some recommendations to help students overcome the challenges in order to improve their ESP reading skills

4, Method of the study

For the purpose of the study, data is collected through the application of the questionnaire technique 'The information from the survey will then be paraphrased in order to find ont the situation of FSP teaching and learning al TURBA; students’ problems and thei causes, As such, descriptive statistics of simple percentages will be used,

‘The instruments used to develop this study are chosen according to the needs of the

ch as: pon, papor and qus

5, Scope of the study

‘The focus of the study is mainly on investigating some linguistic problems related to ESP reading skills of the students at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business

Administration, After that, suggestions will be recommended so as to reduce the difficulties and help students leam ESP more effectively

6 Organization of the study

‘There are three main parts in this study including: Introduction, Development and

Conclusion

The Introduction part of the study covers the rationale for the study, the significance, aims, methods, scope as well as the arganization of the study

The Development part of the study consists of 3 chapters as follows:

Chapter 1 provides a theoretical framework for the study, including, definitions and iypos of FSP, RSP related issucs, and typical (catures of Erylish for Business

Chapter 2 discusses the presant situation, materials, as well as the objectives of teaching and learning Lnglish for Business at ‘'UEBA ‘rhe main focus is placed on the problems faced by the students when reading English texts and document for Business

Chapter 3 reports the methodology used in the rescarch including rescarch questions, participants, instraments and the procedures for data collection and analysis

The Conclusion part summarizes whal, is addressed in the study, poinls out the limitations, draws pedagogical implications and provides some suggestions for further study

PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE RE"

This chapter aims at providing a theoretical background to the study, For this purpose, the chapter will review the issues most relevant to the focus of the study

1.1 ESP Teaching and Learning

professional purposes (Anthony, A 1999)

Based on the concepts of Strevens, P (1988), Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) adopted an extended definition of ESP in terms of its ‘absolute’ and “variable` characteristics According lo tham, in terms of absolute characteristics, ESP (1) is defined to meet specific needs of the leaner, (2) makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves, and (3) is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills,

discourse and genres appropriate lo these avtivities, Tn lorms of the variable characloristies, ESP (1) may be related to or designed tor specific disciplines, (2) may use, in specitic teaching situations, a different methodology from that of general English, (3) is likely to be designed for adult lcarners, cither at a tertiary Level institution or in a professional work situation, and could also be for learners at secondary schoot level, (4) is generally designed for intermediate

or advanced students, (5) assume some basic knowledge of the language systern and can be used with hoginncrs

The definition Dudley-Fvans offered is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988), although he has improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that ESP is

"in contrast with ‘General English" (Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1991: 298), and has revised and increased the number of variable characteristics The division of ESP into absolute and

ESP should be scen simply as an ‘approach’ to teaching, or what Dudlzy-Ewans describes as an

‘attitude of mind’ Such a view echoes that of Hutchinson, ‘I and Waters, A (1987:19) who slalcd, "ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and

method are based on the learner's reason for learning"

Along the same lines, iintchinson, ‘I and Waters, A (1987) proposed a broader

definition of ESP They theorized ESP to be an approach to language teaching in which all

decisions as to content and method are based on the Icamer’s reason for learning As for them,

“ESP — is an appraach not a product — dees not involve a particular kind of language,

teaching material or methodology” (Hutchinson, T and Wales, A 1987: 16)

It can be seen from the definitions that ESP courses are purposeful so “the grawth of

ESP was brought about by a combination of three important factors: the expansion of demand

for English to suit particular needy and developments m tha field of linguisttes and educational psychology” (Hutchinson, T and Waters, A 1987: 8)

Accordingly, ESP teachers should be aware of the matter and should not concentrate

on caching general English, bul focus primarily on salisfying their students’ needs for the

Janguage in different fields of specialization in order to use the language linguistically correct

on paper or verbally

4.1.2 Types of ESP

It is a fact that there are many types of ESP, however, the main focus of all the

classifications of ESP cover the two main areas such as English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP).

The types of ESP will be easily seen in a tree diagram according to different views

Firstly, there comes the traditional Robinson’s tree diagram showing a distinction between the

Fipure 1: ESP classiiicadon ly experience (Rehinson, 1991: 3-4)

In tủa ESP tree, EÁP involves pre-cxpsienoe, siuulianeousin-saivice and post- experience courses while BOP is for study in a specific discipline (pre-study, in-study, and post-study) or as a school subjecl Gndepcndenl or integrated), Pre-experience or pro-sludy course will omit any specific work related to the actual discipline or work as students will not yel have the needed familiarity with the content, the opparlunity for specific or integrated work will be provided during in-service or in-study courses

in addition to this, ESP can be divided into EAP and EOP according to discipline or professional area as is shown in the tree provided by Dudley — vans and St John as follows:

ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES

English for Academic Purposes English for Occupational Purposes

English for unglish for English tor english for English for Enghsh for

(Academic) (Academic) (Academic) Managemen! — Professional Vovalional

Science and Medical Legal Finances and Purposes Purposes

Technology Purposes © Purposes Economics

Ungish English English English

Medical Business yycationa Purposes

Purposes Pwrposts Purposes

Figure 2: ESP classification by professional area (Evans, I D and St John, 1998: 6)

As it can be seen fiom the tree diagram above, a) EAP involves English for (Academie) Seience and Technology (RST), English fur (Academic) Medical Purposes (EMP), English for (Academic) Legal Purposes (ELP), and English for Management, Finance and Lconomics, b) KOP includes Uunglish for Professional Purposes (English for Medical Purposes, English for Business Purposes — EBP) and English for Vocational Purposes (Pre-

vocational English and Vocational English) In EAP, EST has becn the main arca, but EMP

and ELP have always had their place EOP refers to English for professional purposes in

adwinistration, medicine, law and business, and vocational purpasos for non-pre

work (language of training for specific trades or occupations) or pre-work situations (concamed with finding a job and interview skills) In this classification, nglish for Business

Purpose (ERP) is a category within FOP

‘The protlem is that the classtlication of ESP courses creates numerous problems which fail to capture the fluid nature of the various types of ESP teaching and the degree of overlap

‘between “common-vore” EAP and BRP and Gencral English For example, Business English

can be seen as mediating language between the technicalities of a particular business and the Janguage of the general public (Picket, 1989); then, it can bs put in a position between English for General Purposes (EGP) and specialist, English

Therefore, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) considered the whole of ELT should be ona contimum that runs from General English courses to very specific ESP courses as follow

Poiionl Position 2 Position 3 Position 4 Position 5

English for Intermediate EGAP/EGRP Courses for broad 1) An ‘Academic begimers toadvanced courses based on — disciplinary ot professional support’ course

EGP courses common care areas, for example Report related toa with afocus language and ‘Writing for Scientisis and panicnlar onpaticulr skills nol rolated Engineers, Medical English, academic couse

disciplines or Negotialian/Meeting Skills work with professions for Business People business people

Figure 3: Continuum of ELT course types (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:9)

As in the positions 2 and 3, it is only the overall context of the program that decides whether a particular course is classified as ESP or not At position 4, the course is specified in

terms of the skills laugh ILis, al this point, imporlanl to chouse appropriate skills to focus on

- @g., some businessmen will need to read some business journals, others will need

communication skills to deal with their partners, The groups seem not to be homogenous from

In short, on studying different types of ESP, ESP teachers will have an overall picture

of the groups of learners (hat ha! she is going to work with, This is am initially important step enabling the teacher to succeed in improving ESP reading skill for the learneis

1.1.3 The differences between General English and ESP

‘The question of the differences between ESP and Knglish for General Purposes (GP)

thas been widely addressed in fileralure, Aevording lo Hutchinson and Walsrs (1987), there is

no difference between the two in theory, however, there is a great deal of differences in practice In deed, TSP differs from TIGP in the sense that the words and sentences leamed, the subject matter discussed, all relate to a particular field or discipline The design of syllabuses for ESP is directed towards serving the needs of learners seeking for or developing themselves

in a particular occupation or specializing in a specific academic field ESP courses make use

of vocabulary tasks related to the field such as negotiation skills and affective techniques for oral presentations A balance is eteated between educational theory and practical considerations ESP also increases leamers' skills in using nglish

In order to find out the differences between ESP and EGP, it is necessary to have a closer look at both EGP and ESP EGP is one of the compulsory subjects in junior and senior high schools in Vietnam Leamers are introduced to the sounds and symbols of English, as well as to the loxical/grammatical/thctorical ements that compose spoken and written discourse ‘there is no particular situation targeted in this kind of language learning Moreover, EGP also focuses on applications in goncral situations such as appraprinte dialogue wilh sestaurant staff, bank tellers, postal clerks, telephone operators, English teachers, and party guests as well as lessons on how to read and write the English typically found in textbooks, newspapers and magazines articles telsphone books, shopping catalogues, application forms, personal letters, c-mail, and home pages Supplementary information about appropriate gestures, cultural conventions, and cultural taboos is also normally included in EGP curicihuns EGP conducted in English-speaking countries is typivally called FST, and EGP conducted in non-English-speaking countries is noumally called EFL EGP is typically regarded as a level that precedes higher-level instruction in ESP if LSP programs are to yield salisfaclory results,

In contrast ESP, as itis defined, is to meet specific needs of the leamens It is designed

to prepare students or working adults for the English needed in specific disciplines, vocations,

or professions to accomplish specific purpases For this reason, FSP is said to be built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required ESP

concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures

TL covers

subjeets varying from accounting or computer scienes to tourism and business management The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated fiom the students’ real world (or wishes): instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area important to

the Icarners Thore is no fixed methodology of ESP that can be applicd in all situations ESP

makes use of methodology and activities of the discipline it serves, and is centered on the

Janguage appropriate to these activities

1.2 Business English — a type of ESP

1.2.1 Introduction of Business English

For the last two or three decaitss, Business English has allracted increasing interest and awareness, though it is an area which is often neglected by linguistics researchers, who preter

to work on other-easily defined areas of special English Business English couse books and other tcaching/lcaming materials arc prolifcrating, and language schools offering Business English courses are blossoming Several developments may have contributed to the expansion

of Business English, bul spoaking fom tho podagogical paint of view, the demand fin Business English must have originated ftom a particular kind of leamer, often adults, who already had both grammatical knowledge of Linglish and also a specific purpose in learning English In short, they were looking for a different approach, one which would provide them with an opportunity to usc this knowledge morc productively than had been previously possible, and therefore approached Business English courses with heightened expectations

According {o Johns and Dudley-Evans (1991), Business English “requires the carefid research and design of pedagogical materials and activities Jor «an identifiable group of adult learners within a specific learning content”, moreover, it “is designed to meet specified needs ofthe learner” (Sirevens, 1988)

‘As it can be seen from the above-mentioned ESP classification, Business English is an area of ESP, and must be seen in the overall context of ESP, because it relies on and utilizes

demens common lo all ficlds of work in ESP, such as 1:

ier, selection and development of teaching/learning materials, course design ete Just like other

vatieties of SP, RE works with a number of contexts, requires and uses specific language corpora, and lays emphasis on specific kinds of comemunivalion

However, as Ellis, M and Johnson, C (1994: 3) stated, “Business English differs from

varieties of ESP in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job area or industry), and general content {relating to general ability to communicate more effectively,

especially in business situations)”

Teaching Business Fngtish is believed to be the teaching of English to adults working

in businesses, or preparing to work in the field of business, Le, a needs-directed teaching in which as much as possible must be made job-related, focused on leamers’ needs and relevant

to them Suecessfil use of Linglish is seen in terms of a successful outcome to the business transaction, Cost-cffectiveness is required by both adults paying for themselves, and companies sponsoring their staff, so leamers’ bosses and supervisors, or the person setting up the language training in a company may sxpect reports on leamers’ progress on a regular

‘basis Business is competitive, and Icamers’ attendance ean cven be tracked, especially if the company is financing the course Courses may be long or short Classes may be taught in- company or ina language schoot or other ranted facilities,

1.2.2 Characteristics of Business English

People around the world conduct business meetings in English even though this language may be a foreign language to all those present The language that they use will be neither as rich in vocabulary and cxprossion, nor as culturc-bound, as that used by native

speakers, but will be based on a core of the most useful and basic structures and vocabulary

Aflor many ycars of working with a wide range of prove

experienced leamers, Ellis, M and Johnson, C (1994) have proposed the three particular characteristics of Business Lnglish as sense of purpose, social aspects and clear communication

Sense of Purpose

The most important characteristic of exchanges in the context of business meetings, telephone calls, and discussions is a sense of purposc, Uscis of Business English nced to speak English primarily so that they can achieve more in their jobs

Much of the language needed by tmsiness people (apart from social language) will be

transactional: getting what you want and persuading others to agree with the course of action

you propose ‘I'he language will frequently be objective rather than subjective and personal

Sactal aspects

Iniernational business peaple have a need to make contacts with others whorn they

have never met before, or know slightly Meetings are often short because business people are

always pressed for time There is a need for an internationally accepted way of doing things sa

that people fiom different cultures, and with different mother tongues, can quickly focl more

comfortable with one other

Clear communication

Information has to be conveyed with minimum risk of misunderstanding, and the tine

for processing needs to be short ‘Therefore, there is a preference for clear, logical, thought emphasized by the kinds of words that indicate the logical process There is often a need to be

concise — particularly whcn communicating by fax or telephone — and certain familiar

concepts may be expressed in word clusters to avoid ciroulocution

1.2.3 Performance objectives for Business English

The most obvious cbjective behind a Business English course is to fulfill students’ work related needs (Loma 2000:3) Moreover, as already stated, one of the main

cheracicrislics of Rusiness English is the emphasis on perforrmmmes — training leamers tơ

become operationally effective For people in business, the priority is to be able to understand and get their message across, and for the majority of Business English leamers many of the refinernants of language are quite simply nol relevant

What the majority of business leamers need to acquire could be broadly sununarized as follows:

* Confidence and fluency in speaking

® Skills for organizing and structuring information

* Sufficicnt language accuracy to be able to communicate ideas without ambiguity and without stress for the listener

* Strategies for following the main points of fast, complex, and imperfect speech

© Strategies for clarifying and checking unclear information

«Speed of reaction to the utterances of others

© Clear pronunciation and delivery

An awareness of appropriate language and behavior for the cultures and situations in

which they opcrate

Some leamers may also need to develop practical reading and writing skills,

In Business English, these performance criteria need to be seen in the comlext af specific business situations in which the learner will be involved If the requirements of a typical job are analyzed, it can be seen, for exampte, that the learner has to attend meetings which are conducled in English, and that he or she has to follow what is gomg on and be able

to make a contribution

1.2.4 Content of Business Knglish course

Since courses are sel up for different reasons, the cortent of individual courses may

vary considerably However, the content of any paiticular Business English course is usually

quite specific and should always be determined by the students’ needs and objectives Liar example: sludents want to learn business English for instrumental reasons; sore are preparing

for future jobs in which they will use English, whereas others want to leam it to improve their

current job performance in dealing with particular pariners or customers As Donna, 8 (2000)

slated: “the most succassfd courses are the ones which identify appropriate content and fulfill

ihe students’ needs most completely in the shortest possible ime”

Sharing the same view, Lllis, M and Johnson, C (1994: 9) said “the English Business

syllabus ts likely to be defined primarily in relation to business performance skills such as

ineetings, presentations, socializing, or report-writing” Within these skill areas, certain

concepts are typically discussed and expressed These concepts can also be broken down into

the morc linguistically powerful functional arcas such as comparing and contrasting,

expressing cause an effect, recommending, and agreeing The language defined in the syllabus aay include grammatical or lexical items, and elements of spoken or wrillen discourse,

In other words, Business English focuses on the language of business that students

need in the workplace This can take the form of:

+ Everyday language which is used in social situations

+ General business language which can be used in a variety of business contexts

« Context specific language used by a particular industry or profession

The precise mix of language taught in courses will depend upon the needs of particular groups of learners

Business English courses also focus on business communication skills, for example,

making presentations, taking part in meetings and writing reports Courses tend to give

learners the vocabulary and structure to develop these skills and the chance to practice using

them (Gwww.teachingenglish org.uk)

1.3 Summary

It is hoped that most of the related issues to the study have been fully discussed in this

chapter As we know, due to the result of current economic and political developments in

different parts of the world, Business English is currently undergoing a period of rapid growth

Indeed, it is becoming the leading branch of ESP The situation with Business English is in

many ways analogous to the situation with English for Science and Technology and English

for Academic Purposes in the 1970s and 1980s (Dudley — Evans and St John 1996; 39).

Chapter 2: THE PRESENT SITUATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH

FOR BUSINESS AT THAI NGUYEN UNTVERSITY OF ECONOMICS ANT

BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION (IUEBA}

In order to sense the aim of the thesis, this chapter is expected to give an overall description of factual teaching and learning ESP in the aspects of objectives, materials, teachers and students,

2.1 Introduction of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration

and its students

Thai Nguyen University of Economies and Business Administration (TUEBA) is a newly established member of ‘hai Nguyen University, and has been operating for 5 years ‘The university is the mnerger of the Pacully of Agricallural Reonomics of Thai Nguyen University

of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF) and the Faculty of Industrial Economies of Thai Nguyen

‘University of Technology (TNUT) One of its foremost important responsibilities is to train highly qualified lmman resourees at under-graduate and graduate levels, and non-degree short-

term traming TUEBA has been trying to become a centre of high quality training and

education in the field of ccononics and businoss administration, rural development to suppor! Jumger cradivation, poverty reduction, und suslziualls socioeconomic develapment in industrialization and modernization process in midland and mountainous provinces of the North of Vietnam

conditions for living and Icarning Some started Learning English at grade 3 whercas some did

not leam English until grade 10 or learned other foreign languages such as Prench or Russian

at school

2.2 Objectives of the ESP course al TUEBA

The overall aim of the course is to raise the students’ English proticiency in business settings as well as to prepare thera for successful communication in their future career because after the graduation they arc likely to scck employment in intemational companics or they may find themselves working in a company where English is widely spoken, or using English as a anicans of communication with othor business peuple from all over the world

ALTURBA, English is inclueled in the curriculum as a compulsory subject and divided info two stages, During the first stage which lasts three semesters, students study General English focusing on developing the four English skills namely listening, reading, speaking and writing In the sceond stage, students Iam ESP that accounts for 45 periods, One of the subject’s prerequisites is that students must complete the previous General English courses

By the end of the courss, learners arc expected to be farniliar with business lermninologies and write competent English,

2.3 Materials of the ESP course

in ESP teaching and leaming, there always exist two resources of materials as published materials and in-house materials, The former produced by publishers, arc assumed

to be qualified, Moreover, this kind of material is compiled by those who have a lot of experiones in their particular ficlds, Tho later are usually written by the toachors in training

institutions with a view to the teaching situation in their training institution only The aim is to

provide students with specialist vocabnlary and reading practices in their relevant contexts

ALTUFBA, the textbook namely “English for Reonomics and Business” used in BSP

teaching and learning is the in-house one The book has 7 chapters covering different topics

such as Microeconomics and Macroeconomics; Business Management, Finance and

Accounting, International Trade, Marketing, Reonomic Policies and Issues, and Busi

Communication, which are selected fiom available updated published books and edited according to the real teaching and learning conditions of the university and to suit the

$s

sludent’s level of both English proficioney and professional knowledge, Fach chapler conltins

three main parts as Vocabnlary, Discussion and Reading Comprehension, Grammatical Points, and Assigned Exercises

2.4, The problems in teaching and learning ESP at TUEBA

2.4.1 Prablems on the part of the teachers

‘The English division has 10 teachers, af which, 8 teachers are from 25 lo 30 years old and the other two are at the age of fifties Most of them had formal ELT training in different institutions inside Vietnam, whereas one teacher switched from Russian io English language

teaching; another holds the sccond degrec in Business Administration Especially, onc teacher, who is specialized in teaching ESP, graduated from the Faculty of Business English of Hanoi Forcign Trade Universily AH of the toachers have baa to some domestic workshops in foreign language teaching, and some to ESP teaching workshops

Hive out of the division are teachers of GE and in fact, they were trained to become teachers of GE only but are wnexpectedly required to teach ESP that is unfamiliar to them, Therefore, they face a lot of difiicultics in teaching the new subject in terms of the specialized knowledge and teaching methodology

in this sitmation, the loachers have no other choies but ry lo fulfill their job by learnings and working harder in order to be up to the expectations of the teaching and leaming process, 24.2 Problems on the part of the students

Most of the sludents of TURBA started learning English al their high schoots and they have alzeady studied English tor three semesters before leaming ESP Although many of them have good command of English vocabulary, grammar structures and rules, it is shown that they are nol cqually competent in English because GE is quite different from RSP

Although the students are taught other professional subjects in Vietnamese at the same time with L'SP, their professional knowledge remains poor so they find it difficult to deal with

specialized texts and document, in English The fact is thal they have never been in any particular real business contexts and situations so they are unfamiliar with the business activities in the courses As a result, their ESP leaming results are not good as expected

2.5 Summary

The chapter can be regarded as a close loak ai the factual situation of ESP teaching and learning at TUEBA This lays the foundation for a discussion of methodology and findings in

Chapter 3.

Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 Research questions

As it is stated above, the study is carried out to find out the areas of difficulties the third year students are faced with at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Husiness Administration, theirs causcs and finally propose possibls implications to help students improve their reading skill of ESP

Thus, the key research questions for this study are as follows:

(i) What are the difficulties that students at TUEBA have when reading ESP materials? (iii) What are the causes of these difficulties?

Gii) How to irmprave reading skills for ESP's students?

3.2 Participants

Vor the purpose of the study and to Facilitate data collection and analysis, a sample of 5 ESP teachers who are currently teaching English for Business and GE at TUEBA and another sample of 120 students who are the third-year students of TUEBA were selccted randomly

‘The reason for this is that TUEBA is the only member of Thai Nguyen University which is

specialized in Eeonornics and Business Administration Moreover, the researcher is a member

of the English division, thus it would be very convenient for her to conduct the survey,

All of the teachers invited to complete the survey questionnaire have a Diploma in English ancl at least five yours af FSP teaching They are all dedicated teachers and have been

to several domestic workshops and short training courses on GE and ESP teaching, Therefore, they are not only qualified in GE but also have some knowledge of the subject matter It is tolicvod that the loachors would giva useful information aboul thair ESP toaching and ths student's problems from their points of views

‘The 120 students surveyed are in their third year of study at Vaculties of Economics

scd ơn the cluster randorn

and Business Administration, The way to seleel the stuđenls is

sampling that is selecting the groups or classes of students randomly instead of selecting, individuals randomly (Fraenkel and Wallen 1996) This approach makes it much easier and convenient for the researcher fo observe the participants filling out the survcy questionnaixes

in classes or groups

The students’ age varies from 20 to 25, of which, half of them are 2] years ald 65% af them come from rural areas where there are not enough good conditions to learn English 33%

of the students of the survey started learning English at their primary school whereas 35% of them did not know about Lnglish until their grade 6, 8% began at grade 10 and 5 % sindied French, ALTURRA, they sluily Ganeral Rnglish in the first three semestars and (hou move ta ESP courses, Their results of General English range mostly from mark 6 to matk 7 out of 10, 22% of them have mark 7 to mark 8 and only 5% have mark 8 to 9 It is apparent that their English is of mixed levels but all of thesc students havc to do the same course of English with the same expectations and requirements This uneven Level posed great problems to the oachers bocanae they hava to find a suitable way to valor for the different neods of the entire class

3.3 Data collection method

3.3.1 Data collection instrument

A questionnaire, including two parts, was ercated to collect data as the main instrament for this study he author would like to survey both teachers and students who are currently involving in ESP teaching and the loaring process al TURBA The first past of the questionnaire is intended to collect information about the teachers’ experience of English teaching, and the students’ place of domicile, the experience of Linglish learning and their English proficiency before cntzring into RSP course The second part inchiding 8 mmultipls choice questions for the teachers and 14 questions for the students aimed to gather data on the attitudes of students and teachers towards GE and ESP learning, SP reading, and ESP roading matcrials; thsir opinions on the sluden’s difieultics in roading FSP; the causes and

the students’ expectations

Before the survey, the researcher had a group of ten students and two teachers to look through the questionnaire and reccive any comments from them This is expected to be arr important step in order to make the questionnaite completed and reliable

3.3.1 Data collection procedure

The survey was caricd out in class duing class time, Before answering the questionnaires, the students were explained clearly about the purpose of the study as well as

the questionnaire Then they were instrncted how to complete the questionnaire Moreover, the students were allowed to raise any questions needed if there was anything unclear to them,

3.3.3 Data analysis

All the questionnaires were analyzed under the view of teachers and students in following segments

— Attitudes towards ESP teaching and leaning

Views of the ESP course and reading materials

— Difficultics in dealing with ESP texts and materials and their causes

— kxpectations for improving HSP reading skills for the students

The data is mainly analyzed through intoryrctation from the questionnaire and is illustrated by charts

Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION 4.1, Questionnaire Results and Interpretation

4.1.1 Student’s purposes of learning English and learning to read English

‘The first two questions of the survey questionnaire for the students are meant to find out the students’ purpose for learning English in general and learning to read English in particular from their own point of view It can be said that when the students identify clearly the purposes of learning English and learning to read English, they will devote their time and

© To communicate and workwith foreigners —[j a7

B To study in a foreign country where Engish is |, |}

(Ref question 1 in the Appendix J

Chart 1: Student’s purposes of learning English Itis clear from Chart 1 that students have different purposes for learning English More than half of them want to leam English in order to read English materials Besides, nearly half think English is an important tool for them to deal with foreigners and 30.8% state English would make it easier for them to find a job in the future Only 4.17% want to learn English to study abroad and few of the students learn English just to pass their exam because English is a

compulsory subject.

AToimprovemy BToenhancebath €Toresd D others

‘specialized English competence materials, books,

lmowiedpe — andspecalzed newspapers

knowledge English for relax

(Ref: question 2 in the Appendix D

Chart 2: Student’s purposes of learning to read English

For reading skills, half of the surveyed students think they need to read English to

improve their English competence and their specialized knowledge also 35.8% of them learn

to read English to improve their specialized knowledge whereas 10% want to relax with many

types of reading resources and 4.17 of them lear to read with other purposes as to do reading

comprehension or to make it their personal working skill

To sum up, most of the students are well aware of the purposes of learning English,

especially learning to read English Although it is the fact that English is not easy to learn,

they try their best to master

4.1.2 Attitudes towards foreign language skills in the students’ future work and the

role of ESP teaching and learning

(Ref: question 3 in appendix I and 1 in appendix ID)

Chart 3: Attitudes towards foreign language skills in students’ future work

It is surprising to find out that the teachers and students have different opinions of the role of foreign language skills in the students’ future work 60 % of the students think

speaking is of the most importance as compared to other skills Only 25% of them vote for

reading skill and a small number of students highly appreciate listening and writing From a different view, 3 among 5 surveyed teachers consider reading as the most important skill while

two of them vote for speaking and writing respectively

Reasons for the difference are still unknown but they may be of the different

assumption about the students’ work in the future In the current trend of international

integration and globalization as well as socio-economic development, the students hope to

work in international organizations or multinational companies, so they would speak English a lot to deal with the foreigners However, the teachers consider that the students would use

reading skill most frequently in order to read and understand all the business documents such

as contracts, regulations, laws, etc Only when the students clearly understand the law and

working disciplines, do they succeed in dealing with international partners,

A.Very B.Essenial C.Not very D.Net

(Ref: question 4 in appendix I and 2 in appendix I)

Chart 4: Views of the role of ESP course However, most of the students share the same ideas with the teachers of the role of ESP teaching and learning at university 100% of the teachers and 72.5% of the students positively believed that it is very essential to have ESP course This means that the teachers

and students are obviously aware of the important role of ESP course in the students’ future

work in which they have to read a lot of specialized document and materials in various

sources

4.1.3 Views on ESP teaching and learning materials

4.1.3.1, Students’ favorite reading materials

GA Books, new spapers

‘and magazines related to

‘your major

BB Compulsory books of

te 3uJect

9 Books tor ertertainment 24%

BD Others

(Ref: question 5 in appendix I

Chart 5: Students’ favorite reading materials

As can be seen from the chart above, over half of the students (62%) place greatest

interest in books, newspapers and magazines related to their business major 24% of them find the compulsory matenals of the ESP course like course books and reference books very

interesting 12% like reading books for entertainment and 2% others like reading English

software and computer programs It is important to note that the students pay a lot of attention

to the materials related to their specialization This can be a good way for them to improve and

broaden their specialized knowledge Besides, it is understandable that students need to have

not only knowledge of their major but also of other fields, Therefore, the students of the study

enjoy reading both specialized materials and entertainment books in English

4.1.3.2 Difficult materials to teach and learn

(Ref: Question 6 in appendix I and 3 in appendix ID)

Chart 6: Types of difficult texts and materials

It can be easily seen from chart 6 that both students (48.3%) and teachers (60%) have

the biggest challenge when dealing with academic texts in particular field of Economics and Business This is the common problem to almost every ESP teacher because the teachers’

background knowledge is GE not business major

Apart from that, 28.3% and 20% of the students and teachers respectively find it most difficult to deal with journals and analysis in the field of Economics and Business, It is

apparent that the contents of business journals and analysis are recorded from authentic

business activities, which are relatively new to them Therefore, it takes time for the students

to read comprehensively these types of texts

Many kinds of documents in business transactions such as business letters, contracts, press announcements, ete do not cause any problems to all the teachers but 21.7 % of the

students find them challenging Interestingly, 1.67% of the students and one teacher do not

have any difficulties when working on any types of ESP

4.1.3.3, Attitudes towards the current ESP reading materials