Activating students’ specialized knowledge through illustrations for marine engineering vocabulary learning at Maritime College No.1 = Kích hoạt kiến thức chuyê

That is the reason why the thesis named “Activating students’ specialized knowledge through illustrations for marine engineering vocabulary learning at Maritime College No.. 1, Hai Phong

( Kích hoạt kiến thức chuyên ngành của sinh viên thông qua hình ảnh minh họa cho việc học từ vựng chuyên ngành máy tàu thủy

tại trường Cao đẳng Hàng Hải I)

MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

HANOI - 2012 ĐẶNG THỊ HOÀNG YẾN

(Kích hoạt kiến thức chuyên ngành của sinh viên thông qua hình ảnh minh họa cho việc học từ vựng chuyên ngành máy tàu thủy

tại trường Cao đẳng Hàng Hải I)

MA MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

Supervisor: Cấn Thị Chang Duyên, M.A

HANOI - 2012 ĐẶNG THỊ HOÀNG YẾN

PART B: DEVELOPMENT

CHAPTER 1: ENGLISH TEACHING AND LEARNING CONTEXT AT

MARITIME COLLEGE N 0 1

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 English for special purposes

2.1.2 Students‟ prior knowledge in learning ESP vocabulary 10 2.2 Illustrations as visual aids in learning ESP vocabulary 14

APPENDICES

vi

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

International Maritime Organization : IMO

English for Specific Purposes : ESP

English as a Second Language : ESL

Vietnam National University, Hanoi : VNU

vii

LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS

FIGURES

TABLES

Table 1: Students‟ attitude towards vocabulary learning 28 Table 2: students‟ difficulty of guessing the meanings 32 Table 3: students‟ comment of vocabulary learning 33

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the study

To be a developing country with a 3000 km coastline, Vietnam has advantages of maritime industry Our country has been supporting the international maritime big amount of seafarers Ships are like big houses, sea is like country, and seamen on board are from multi-countries and in multi-languages Therefore, in order to work and live in harmony, in a same house, seafarers are needed to have a common language – maritime English Nowadays shipping industry communicates through maritime English, the language of the sea This cross-cultural labour mobility makes many maritime English instructors aware that the quality of cadets in the global seafarer‟s community needs a proper teaching pedagogy Competent seafarers should also be proficient in understanding and using maritime English, which is essential for the safety of life

at sea, effectiveness of work, ship property, pollution prevention, etc Maritime English knowledge and skills can ensure the effectiveness of communication between English speaking seafarers and non-English speaking ones; and between seafarers and offshore personnel To a certain degree safety at sea depends on seafarers‟ communication in maritime English Proper command of maritime English is not only for the necessity of seafarers but also for the appropriate operation of ship

According to the above significances, IMO (International Maritime Organization) has officially adopted maritime English as the language of maritime industry which requires seafarers must gain good maritime English communication skills Mastering communication skills is one of the important components which ensure the safety at sea In order to help seafarers to achieve high quality performance, maritime English instructors should focus on communication skills that include four language skills namely listening,

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speaking, reading and writing The maritime terminology is the certain basic part

to form understandable working environment

In school days, future seafarers are in need of accumulating knowledge from learning materials One of the important elements is lecturers How to combine the students‟ prior knowledge and new vocabulary? which is a big questions for all lecturers in maritime school It requires teachers to have good methodology in explaining new words Using illustration is among the most effective ways to activate students‟ knowledge and help learners to remember maritime terminology easier and better Therefore, the quality of maritime English teaching will have enough conditions which meet requirements of IMO Conventions

That is the reason why the thesis named “Activating students’ specialized knowledge through illustrations for marine engineering vocabulary learning at Maritime College No 1” has been fostered and conducted In this paper I would

like to give an overview of maritime English teaching at the Maritime College

No 1, Hai Phong, addressing some advantages and disadvantages of illustrations and how to activate students‟ prior knowledge in learning English for Specific Purpose (ESP) vocabulary

2 Aims of the study

From the above mentioned viewpoints, the study was carried out at Maritime College No 1 with a target to identify students‟ attitudes towards learning of ESP vocabulary, their abilities and difficulties of guessing the meanings of the words The study also draws out the ways to activate students‟ knowledge in learning marine engineering vocabulary

Following that, the findings and solutions were given with hope to make contribution to the specialized vocabulary teaching for teachers in general and teachers at Maritime College No 1 in particular Attached sample lesson plans of

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using illustrations in teaching marine engineering vocabulary will be shown by the author to strengthen the thesis more truthfully

3 Scope of the study

It is impossible to cover every aspect of language theory and practice in this study Therefore, the study focuses on how to activate students‟ specialised knowledge through using illustrations in teaching marine engineering vocabulary

in Maritime College No 1 It is not proposed to deal with other techniques in presenting vocabulary Based on theoretical background and actual observations, several recommendations for teaching are given

4 Methods of the study

In this section, the author provided the description of the instruments for collecting data that were used and also highlighted the strengths and weakness of the research methods chosen

The thesis is developed based on a survey research with the instrument of survey questionnaires The research questions for the students are used to collect data that relate to the students‟ attitudes and abilities towards the new marine engineering vocabulary The procedures describe the whole applied performance

of using illustrations Interviewing students, on the other hand, ask open questions, collects data from participating and then most importantly, clarify information collected in the survey questionnaire and observation The final part

of the study is a detailed discussion Above of all, the author with her heart and attempt is to carry out a qualitative and quantitative research at Maritime College

No 1

5 Significance of the study

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Maritime College, as its name implies, is one of five Vietnamese crews and officer training centres, and also one of the schools with a large number of students specialized in maritime field MC has been contributing the success of Vietnam maritime industry and taking part in the process of international crew export In the last few years, MC has been providing maritime labour forces for the industrialization and modernization of the nation Thus, studying maritime terminology in general or marine engineering in particular, one of the most important factors, will bring out students good specialized vocabulary There are

so many techniques applied in presenting vocabulary such as concise definition, detailed description, examples, illustrations, demonstration (acting, mime), context, synonyms, antonyms, translation, visual aids or real objects However, not all techniques are suited to be taught for marine engineering students in MC The study is to clearly understand how feasible technique is applying at MC Besides, the author has expected to give recommendations for enhancing teaching and learning quality of the school; providing consultation to the school‟s education managers to better understand English studies at MC and making suitable teaching methodology for lecturers; improving the qualified graduates working in maritime industry who will make a valuable contribution to the society

6 Design of the study

PART A: INTRODUCTION provides the basic information such as the aims, the scope, and significance of the study

PART B: DEVEPLOPMENT contains of 3 chapters

Chapter 1: English teaching and learning context at Maritime College No 1

provides the background of students‟ learning, current methods of teaching vocabulary and states material and assess material

Chapter 2: Literature Review justifies the literature on English for special

purposes, students‟ prior knowledge in learning ESP vocabulary, the advantages

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and disadvantages of illustrations and the statement of the illustrations as visual aids in learning ESP vocabulary

Chapter 3: The study focuses are reported

PART C: CONCLUSION includes review, limitations and suggestions for the study

1.1 Students’ language background

Maritime College No 1 is a school which has trained future seafarers and from the 1980s to now, this school has been supplying maritime field many generations of labour forces The students of Maritime College No.1 need to have not only competency in specialised knowledge but also in English Maritime College No.1 is near Chua Ve port and not very far from the Port of Hai Phong Therefore, students in general and engineering students in particular have many opportunities of practice and big opportunities of looking for jobs However, students are selected through an entrance examination for college level As for other levels such as intermediate and vocational students, these procedures are determined via documents assessments There are only three hundred students accepted to study at college level About 1,200 students are learning at secondary and vocational courses The requirements for these students are the completion of twelve years of primary and secondary education At high school they were not taught English in accordance with the national standard Most of them come from different part of the province Some of them are from the rural areas or remote areas, where there are no good opportunities for studying English These students commonly did not spend much time learning English at high school before The

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others come from cities, which theoretically have all finished a three year or seven year program of learning English at high schools before entering Maritime College No.1 Most of them are male students (85%) To some extent, there are some students whose English are very good, but generally the target students' English proficiency is still low Most of students learn English by doing grammatical exercises Some have strong pressure to pass exams with high marks; the others would prefer ESP to enhance their specialized knowledge, which is required in their future job However, technical knowledge in

Vietnamese makes it easy for them to learn English for Engineering On the other

hand, brings them high motivation in learning ESP In addition, it helps students feel more confident to interact with the teacher in ESP class

1.2 Teachers’ current methods of teaching vocabulary

The teaching staff have been known to be the key to success of traditional teaching and learning at Maritime College No.1 At the college, there are 23 teachers of English The teachers of Maritime College No.1 graduated from University of Languages and International Studies – VNU, Hanoi University, Haiphong University All of them are major in English, among whom, two are major in sea-economic, and seven teachers have from 10 to 20 years experience Some teachers have experience in teaching English for marine engineering However, some young teachers who have never seen a diesel engine or known what a diesel engine is or how it work, etc., find it difficult to explain unfamiliar and unaccustomed vocabulary Besides, some students who have ever been worked on board ship as oilers or greasers have specialized knowledge Therefore, those teachers met problems in teaching Furthermore, materials used for teaching like machineries, engines are too big to be used as visual aids, so the methodology is concerned Fortunately, there are many different kinds of teaching methods in ESP vocabulary lessons which can be named a few but the

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Grammar-Translation Method, the Direct Method, the Audio-Lingual method, the Communicative approach From the teacher‟s perspective, illustrations provide an interesting way to extend textbook activities Due to space and cost limitations, a textbook might provide simple line drawings and three to five instances for learners to practice target language elements However, using a folder with 10-20 pictures illustrating the same topic, a teacher can expand upon the textbook and provide additional practice in a colorful and engaging way Illustration activities add variety and new ways of interaction in ESL classrooms Furthermore, illustrations provide “a vehicle around which students can jump off into non-scripted, free from conversation as they discuss the illustrations themselves or connections that illustrations make the students‟ lives.” Jane C.Miler (2007:3) From the above viewpoints, using illustrations known as the most suitable teaching methods can activate students‟ technical knowledge and the teachers are able to explain the new words much easier

1.3 Material and material assessment

The textbook “English for marine engineering students” was composed by

a group of teachers and then compiled into the material to teach students of marine engineering at Maritime College No 1 in 90 periods “English for marine engineering students” consists of twelve units containing vocabulary related to marine engineering such as engine-room organization, a diesel engine, parts of a diesel engine, how a diesel engine works, functions of auxiliary machineries, pistons, cylinders, etc Each unit includes parts as text, vocabulary list, structure

or grammar note Students are able to consolidate vocabulary through reading, listening, speaking and writing skills The aims and objectives of the textbook are

to provide students specialized words and enrich the vocabulary From then, students will be able to use in communication and future jobs However, subject matter required is rather difficult for students They find it hard to understand the texts, and therefore, it requires teachers use illustrations to make effectives for the

9 lessons This is obviously manifested in teaching methods of almost teachers in

my school is encouraged in this new material

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CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 English for special purposes

2.1.1 Definition of ESP

“ESP” stands for English for Specific Purpose and “what is ESP?” To get

the answer, thanks to Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 19), they define ESP as “an

approach not as a product ESP is not a particular kind of language or

methodology, nor does it consist of a particular type of teaching material

Understood properly, it is and approach to language learning, which is based on

learner need” Likewise, John Munby (1978 : 2) indicated that “ESP courses are

those where the syllabus and materials are determined in all essentials by the

prior analysis of the communication needs of the learner, rather than by

nonlearner – centred criteria” Two descriptions emphasizes that ESP should pay

attention to the learners and their needs

In an understandable way, Martin (1992: 16-23) has explained the E, S and

P elements of ESP The „S‟ element is inclined to mean „specifiable‟ For the „E‟

of ESP, there is a general field of „languages for specific purposes‟ (LSP) The

„P‟ in ESP refers to the learner‟s purpose, which was defined as „a combination

of pre-determined or pre-selected goal and ongoing intentionality and

motivation‟ This definition of ESP shows us a simple segregation of the three

elements and explanation of each one We can see that the learner‟s purposes on

learning specific English have been mentioned clearly

Dudley – Evans (1998: 2-5) defined ESP as follows “Absolute character: 1-ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the learners

2-ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the

disciplines it serves

3- ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills,

discourse and genre appropriate to these activities

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Variable characteristics:

1-ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines

2- ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of general English

3- ESP is likely to be designed for adult learner, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation It could, however, be used for learner at secondary school level

4- ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students Most

of ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners.”

Steven (1988: 1) stated: “ESP is a particular cause of the general category

of special purpose language teaching.”

The above definitions, though they were defined by different authors at different time, these definitions affirmed that any ESP course must be based on learners‟ needs

Previous studies

Cao (2010) conducted a study of teaching vocabulary in mechanical engineering to the second year students at Bacninh vocational colleges: challenges and suggested solutions She found out the teachers‟ difficulties of teaching vocabulary in Mechanical Engineering and students‟ difficulties of learning ESP vocabulary as well

Another study is one of Le (2010) about applying metacognitive strategies

in learning vocabulary for in-service students at Hanoi university of languages and international studies, Vietnam National University This study pointed out that there are subcategories of metacognitive strategies as planning and monitoring are used at low frequency and the positive tests results show a higher vocabulary proficiency after the strategies instruction The teaching of

of activating students‟ specialized knowledge through illustrations for marine engineering vocabulary learning

2.1.2 Students’ prior knowledge in learning ESP vocabulary

According to learning theorist, Jean Piaget (1977: 63), accessing prior knowledge is how students make sense of the world They attempt to take new information and fit it into existing knowledge in order to create a schema, or mental map that fits into a specific category This makes the information more accessible because it is more memorable When they make connections, it allows them to find the information using this network

“What students may already know” seems to be a question that teachers have to make prediction When students come into a classroom, they enter with a wide range of experiences and come from many cultures They have ideas, knowledge and concepts that are already formed Some of this knowledge may be incorrect, and some might be right on target, but needs expansion This prior knowledge is very important to acknowledge in order to motivate student learning When teachers discount the previous knowledge that students bring into the classroom, they risk ostracizing them Instead of discounting previously learned material, build upon it to increase knowledge retention

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Students‟ minds are not blank slates able to receive instructions in a neutral way; on the contrary, students approach experiences presented in science classes with previously acquired notions, and these influence what is learnt from new experience in a number of ways These include the observations made of events, the interpretations offered for such observations and the strategies students use to acquire new information, including reading from texts and experimentation

Students have ideas about things, and the ideas about these things, and such ideas play a role in the learning experience Many didderent authors such as Ausubel, Piaget and Wallon, have incorporated this notion as an integral part of their theory What students are capable of learning depends, at least in part, on

“what they have in their heads” as well as on the learning context in which they find themselves

A model introduced by cognitive scientifists fits well what is known of the interaction between the students‟ different ideas and the manner in which these ideas involved in teaching The model is based on the hypothesis that information

is stored in memory in various forms, and that everything people say and do depends on the elements or groups of elements of this stored information which have been called “schemes” A scheme may concern an individual‟s knowledge about a specific phenomenon i.e the sensation of cold elicited y a metallic object,

or a more complex reasoning structure such as the association of one variable with another that leads some children to anticipate that “the brighter the light bulb, the larger the shadow will be”) Thus, the term “scheme” denotes the diverse things that are stored and interrelated in memory These “scheme” also influence the way a person may behave and interact with the environment, and in turn may be influenced by feedback from the environment

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Taking account of students‟ prior ideas is one of the strategies, though certainly not the only one, which enables teaching to be better asapted to studetns This can occur in a number of ways:

- The choice of concepts to teach: in some teachingschemes used with second year students, some concepts have been consideres to be obvious and have been taken for granted in planning course But some concepts are too far from the facial of their future jobs so it makes students confused

- The choice of learning experiences If students‟ prior ideas are known then these can be challenged directedly by experiences which conflict with expectations, so provoking students to reconsider their ideas However, challenging students‟ current ideas is not by itself enough to promote change; alternative ideas have to be offered and these need to be seen by students not only

as necessary but also reasonable and plausible Knowledge of students‟ ideas enables us to choose teaching activities which are more likely to interpreted by students in the way intended

- The presentation of the purposed activites: in formulating the purposes of learning tasks it is important to bear in mind that students may reinterpret the intensions of the teacher in terms of their own understandings This is illustrated

in the following example where students were programmed through a series of activities on work-cards One group of students were asked to find out the differences between two types of pistons The fucntion of the task was to demonstrate the variation of pistons The students has been instructed to discribe the different parts of each pistons Towards the end of the lesson the students were instructed to look at the graphs they had produced and compare them, suggesting an explanation The teacher (T) enters their discussion:

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Figure 1 Figure 2

T: What has your illustration shown you?

S2: That different…um…those different parts and that …see the movement of the pistons

T: What did you find out?

S1: Well…er…the movement of the piston is easier through the …

T: Crosshead

The students had has first-hand experience – they had collected their data, but these has been assimilated into a scheme concerned with conductivity, rather than in the way intended

While it is necessary to bear students‟ ideas in mind while teaching, it certain is not easy to put this into practice The teacher has responsibility for the class as a whole and may consider it quite unrealistic to take the varied ideas of each student into account

2.2 Illustrations as visual aids in learning ESP vocabulary

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Vocabulary is, according to Hatch & Brown (1995), the list of words that speakers of a particular language use As language teachers we use different types

of teaching aids to explain the meaning of new words Using illustrations is one

of the teaching aids that teachers depend on in their teaching Harmer (2001:134) states that “Teachers have always used illustrations or graphics – whether drawn, taken from books, newspapers and magazines, or photographs – to facilitate learning” In my experience, English teachers tend to feel that using illustrations

in teaching new words makes the process enjoyable and memorable They also feel that illustrations attract pupils‟ attention and deepen their understanding of vocabulary Illustrations can also help learners with abstract words, as associating the words with a concrete object makes these words easier to remember Harmer (2001:135) states that “one of the most appropriate uses of illustrations is for the presenting and checking of meaning An easy way of explaining the meaning of the word aeroplane, for example, is to have a illustration of one” There is no doubt that not all new words can be taught using illustrations but most concrete vocabulary can

Nation (1990:51) lists a number of basic techniques through which teachers can explain the meanings of new words, all of which can be used in the young learner classroom Some of these techniques involve the use of illustrations from a variety of sources - illustrations from computers; photographs; drawings or diagrams on the board; and illustrations from books It will be interesting in this study to see which techniques teachers use Undeniably, illustrations must be chosen carefully and it is hoped that this study will shed some light on how teachers make these choices According to Harmer (2001), illustrations should be appropriate not only for the language to be learned but also for the classes they are being used for; if pictures are too childish students may not like them and if they are culturally inappropriate they can offend people Illustrations also need to be visible – especially if they are being shown to the

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whole class they need to be big enough for everyone to see And it also helps if pictures are durable – that is, strong enough to be used several times As noted above, although it is generally accepted that illustrations can play an important role in supporting vocabulary learning, we know little about teacher and learner perspectives on this issue

Visual aids can be defined in two ways: as an illustration a teacher shows learners to help their understanding, or in a broader sense as anything a teacher shows learners in a classroom to do this Andrew Wright and Safia Haleem

(Visuals for the Language Classroom, Longman Keys to Language Teaching,

1991) clarify visual aids as “anything the learners can is see used for different teaching purposes in a language class” Students learn best through visual learning style Visual aids include facial expressions and gesticulations of teachers, pictures, text with illustrations, DVDs, etc Visual learners think and learn in illustrations This style of learning has an important advantage: It makes recollection easier when, in an environment different from where you had learned the information, you see illustrations similar to those through which you learned the information Illustrations are one of the media to teach and learn language and help students become active Gerlach and Emily (1980:241) stated that “a medium is any person, material or even that establishes condition which enables learners or students to acquire knowledge, skill and attitude.” Additionally, Gerlach and Emily (1980:273) Teaching aids consists of materials and equipment used in teaching from audio, visual, audiovisual aid – materials using sight or sound to present new knowledge; “language tapes and videocassettes and other audiovisuals” to equipment – an instrumentality needed for an undertaking or to perform a service Among three main kinds of teaching aid (audio aids, visual aids and audio – aids), visual aids are the most common Most teachers notice that visual aids are very valuable for creating a real language environment so that students can learn vocabulary better Thus, the first important benefit of using

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visual aids is to create real situation and to motivate learners in studying vocabulary Secondly, visual aids can be used as a tool to help students memorize vocabulary more easily Furthermore, visual aids are also considered a factor of interactions

2.2.1 The advantages of illustrations

Teachers of English to the second language learners know that language learning is enhanced by engaging multiple senses – sound, sight, and touch – in classroom instruction Illustrations connect spoken and printed words to known objects In addition to their practical function of conveying information, illustrations are lively and interesting Students are always eager to objects relating their future jobs Students of marine engineering enjoy looking at illustrations of engines, machinery of every type They are interested in observing the details that they learn as their specialized knowledge They enjoy speculating

on how the images shown in illustrations compare to those in their own specialized knowledge Using illustrations, teachers can expand upon the textbook and provide additional practice in an engaging way Illustrations activities add variety and new ways of interaction in ESL classroom Furthermore, illustrations provide “a vehicle around which students can jump off into non – scripted, free from conversation as they discuss the illustrations themselves or connections that illustrations make to the learner‟s lives” - Jane C.Miler (2007:3)

ESL best practices support the use of pictures with learners In article

Beginning to Work with Adult English Language Learners: Some Considerations

MaryAnn Cunningham Florez and Miriam Burt described instructional approaches that support second language development in adults They write “Use visuals to support your instruction English language learners need context in their process Using gestures, expressions, illustrations, and realia makes words

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and concepts concrete and connections more obvious and memorable” Similarly,

Grace Massey Holt, in her article, Teaching Low-Level Adult ESL Learners,

includes “illustrations or photographs: personal, magazine and others” as the third item in her list of appropriate classroom materials for beginning level ESL learners

Zenger, (1991: 79) stated some advantages of using illustrations To name but a few, they can stimulate and motivate students to become more observant and express themselves; they are inexpensive, many even are free, and fairly easy

to locate; they can be used by individual or in groups; they can be displayed for

as long as necessary so students can work at their own rate; they are up-to-date: they can bring reality into the classroom; can be used to introduce, supplement, or summarize at unit; and enrich reading and can help clarify misunderstanding

- A means for creating real situation and for motivating learners in vocabulary learning

According to Adrian Doff (1988: 82), visual aids often draw students‟ attention, and help to make language used in the class more real, lively and interesting W

R Lee and H Coppen (1970:1) claim that visual aids can help teacher create real communicative situations (contexts), clarifying the meaning of the words used Visual aids can quickly and efficiently demonstrate ideas that are difficult to explain verbally Many science and art concepts can only be effectively taught by showing students as well as, or instead of, simply telling them the meaning Therefore, the learners can have a feeling of reality as visual aids help them make the meaning of words clearer and more understandable

- A tool for memorizing vocabulary

Visuals appeal to different parts of the brain than words According to Howard Garner, some people are very strong visual learners because they have

“Visual/Spatial Intelligence” They tend to think in pictures and need to create vivid mental images to retain information They enjoy looking at maps, charts,

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pictures, and movies They take in information mainly through visual stimulus In fact, we're all visual learners to some extent, especially these days with DVDs and YouTube - visuals can introduce everything Therefore, with the assistance of visual aids, learners can memorize vocabulary more easily

- A factor of interactions

Visual aids can be used in any English lessons They can be employed in teaching writing and speaking skills They can function as the illustration for listening and reading practice A visual aid can illustrate an idea or a concept in a different way

to just the explaining of it in words Sometimes a visual is the only way to explain something e.g describing how to tie your shoelaces in words and see how much sense it makes) Figures and statistics can be shown much more clearly and concisely through visuals, such as pie charts and graphs Therefore, teachers can save more time on presenting and explaining new words and learners can have more time to practice using new vocabulary or grammatical items or four language skills

2.2.2 The disadvantages of illustrations

With very complex parts of an engine, it is very difficult to name exactly Zenger, (1991: 79) also indicated three disadvantages of using illustrations as follow:

1 - Illustrations cannot depict motion as the real engines or machineries do

2 – If not unique, can seem uninteresting students

3 – Depicting specific purpose might be difficult to locate

If a visual aid relies on a technological device, teachers using that aid run the risk of technical failure or even failure of their own technical knowledge Simple verbal instructions or reading lessons do not fail due to technical difficulties

Though there exist drawbacks, the advantages of using illustrations clearly outweigh the disadvantages

What are students’ attitudes towards learning of ESP vocabulary?

What are students’ abilities of guessing the meanings?

What are students’ difficulties of guessing the meanings?

How to activate students’ specialized knowledge through illustrations for marine engineering vocabulary learning?

3.2 Participants

The study took place in Maritime College No 1, Hai Phong The participants of the survey questionnaires involved one hundred second year students of marine engineering in MC1 These students are between eighteen and twenty years old, most of whom are male All of them have similar background That is, they have been taught their own specialized subjects

3.3 Instruments

In order to have a good understanding of the issue, it is necessary to refer

to an important source of data collection together with the literature review With the hope that by cross checking with the information obtained from the questionnaire, some useful suggestions can be made to recall students‟ specialized knowledge in learning vocabulary through illustrations at Maritime College No 1

3.4 The procedure

At first, the teacher warmed the students up by showing the illustration of

a Diesel engine and asking what type of engine it is and introducing what she is going to teach today The students seemed to keep silent and pay attention to the teacher Next the teacher asked the students to mention the things that they saw in

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the illustration Some students were interested in guessing the meaning of the illustration and others seemed to be not interested and indifferent The students did this task individually, and they wrote down their own answer on the

notebooks They mentioned some words in English such as cylinder, valves, piston and they also described other objects in the illustration in Vietnamese (e.g tay biên, bơm cao áp, trục khuỷu, sơ mi xylanh, vỏ làm mát)

After that, the teacher showed some cards of the names of certain basic

parts of a Diesel engine to present new words They were “cylinder, piston, crankshaft, connecting rod, fuel injection pump, valves.” The teacher pointed to the word cylinder and said it loudly She repeated the word three times and then

asked the students to repeat it aloud Next, she asked some individual students to say the new word aloud She followed the same procedure for the word piston

For crankshaft, fuel injection pump, cylinder liner the teacher pointed to the

illustration and said the words The students repeated the new words Then, the teacher asked the students to name the parts by sticking the cards onto the illustration Furthermore, the teacher introduced the new words by explaining the structures, the functions of these parts or by translating them into Vietnamese For example, to understand the word “piston” the teacher explains “it can slide in and out to make strokes”; the word “connecting rod” – “it connects the crank to the piston”

Doing the same as the above procedure for the next lesson, the teacher aimed to check the students‟ memorization of new words The teacher made a comparison in the number of correct answer to see good progress among students

Illustrations the teacher applied during the lesson really draw the students‟ attention Almost students are interested and involved in the lesson They are excited to work to find out the meaning of the words which they have known

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during their specialized subjects Then, they could remember the new words better

* Sample lesson plan for using illustrations (see Appendix 2)

3.5 Findings and discussions

The study reflected an interpretive on research The auhtor used a naturalistic approach and collected data about using illustrations in teaching new words to students of engineering using observation and interviews The author decided to use observation here because, as Patton (1990:203) argues, observational data are attractive as they afford the researcher the opportunity to gather live data from live situations During the observations the researcher made field notes related to my topic using an open – ended observation sheet Moreover, video was recorded during the lessons Observation alone, however, did not allow the author to understand the other teachers‟ views about their using illustrations in teaching vocabulary The interviews were in Vietnamese with the students and with participants‟ permission, all interviews were audio recorded Analyzing the observation data, examining the teaching materials were used for explaining the new words in the lesson The researcher moreover focused on how and when these materials are used, using the video of the lessons to help me identify specific examples of vocabulary teaching using illustrations What is more, the video for evidence of students‟ reactions was studied when illustrations were used to introduce new words In analyzing the interviews, the author translated the student interviews into English (see appendix for a sample student interview) After that, the author looked for themes in the interviews which reflected students‟ attitudes towards using illustrations in the process of learning new vocabulary The options that students agreed on as well as points where their views differed were classified

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Questions

1 I used my specialized

knowledge and the illustrations to

guess the meaning of the words

before my teacher told me to do

2 I can guess the meaning of the

word with the illustrations and

my specialized knowledge but I

don‟t know how to pronounce the

Table 1: Students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning

It can be seen from the table 1 that there is a high level of agreement about independent attitude of vocabulary learning Most of the students (60%) are interested in guessing the meaning of the words They are eager to examine their specialized knowledge by themselves Only 2% of them don‟t agree with this

Options