Using a content-based approach to teaching environmental English to students An action research = Sử dụng phương pháp dựa vào nội dung để dạy tiếng anh chuyên

ABBREVIATIONS EAP: English for Academic Purposes EGP: English for General Purposes EFL: English as a foreign language ELT: English Language Teaching EOP: English for Occupational Purpos

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

Sử dụng phương pháp dựa vào nội dung để dạy tiếng anh chuyên ngành

môi trường cho sinh viên: Phương pháp cải tiến sư phạm

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

Sử dụng phương pháp dựa vào nội dung để dạy tiếng anh chuyên ngành

môi trường cho sinh viên: Phương pháp cải tiến sư phạm

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY CODE: 60140111

SUPERVISOR: Dr Trần Hoài Phương

Hanoi, 2014

DECLARATION

I declare that the thesis entitled “Using a content-based approach to

teaching English to students of environmental studies: an action research”

is the result of my own research for the Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, and that this thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other university or tertiary institution

Ha Noi, September 2014 Signature

Mai Thị Thanh

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to my supervisor, Dr Trần Hoài Phương, for her valuable instructions, constructive criticisms and her kindly encouragement during the development of this thesis Without her guidance the thesis would have been impossible

My special thanks go to all professors and lecturers at the Faculty of Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies – VNU for their useful lectures, helpful suggestions, and tireless assistance

Post-I am also grateful to my colleagues and the third-year students of Environment at Central Regional College of Natural Resources and Environment for their invaluable feedback, support and participation in this research

Finally, to my beloved family go my heart-felt thanks for their understanding

as well as their help throughout my graduate program

LIST OF TABLES AND ABBREVIATION

1 TABLES Table 1: English study background

Table 2: Students’ skills weakness

Table 3: Skills important for future job

Table 4: The usefulness of ESP

Table 5: Students’ ESP learning style

Table 6: Material input in the CBI approach

Table 7: t-Test: Paired Two Sample for Means

2 ABBREVIATIONS

EAP: English for Academic Purposes

EGP: English for General Purposes

EFL: English as a foreign language

ELT: English Language Teaching

EOP: English for Occupational Purposes

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

GE: General English

CRCNRE: Central Regional College of Natural Resources and Environment

NRE: Natural Resources and Environment

M.A: Master of Arts

ULIS: University of Languages and International Studies

VNU: Vietnam National University

ESL: English as a Second Language

TVET: technical and vocational education and training

IT: Information Technology

CBI: content-based instruction

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF TABLES AND ABBREVIATION iv

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale for choosing the topic 1

2 Purposes of the study: 2

3 Research questions 3

4 Significance of the study 3

5 Design of the study 3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT 5

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

1.1 Definitions of ESP and related concepts 5

1.1.1 ESP/EAP/EOP 5

1.1.2 English for non-majors, English for majors and ESP in Vietnam 7

1.1.3 English for non-majors and ESP in practice in Vietnam 9

1.2 A content- based approach 12

1.2.1 Definitions of content-based instruction 12

1.2.2 Types of Content-Based Instruction 14

1.2.3 Theme-based model in designing ESP material 15

1.3 Issues of CBI 16

1.4 An example of CBI 18

1.5 Chapter summary 20

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY 21

2.1 The participants and CRCNRE context 21

2.2 Methodology 24

2.2 Action research procedure 27

CHAPTER 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 30

3.1 The results of the pre-treatment questionnaire survey 30

3.1.1 Students’ English study background 30

3.1.2 Students’ perceptions of their weakness 31

3.1.3 Skills important for future job 31

3.2.1 Data collected from the post test 32

3.2.2 Data collected from the post-questionnaire (second part) 34

PART III: CONCLUSION 37

1 Conclusions 37

2 Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study 37

REFERENCES 39 APPENDIX 1: PRE-TREATMENT QUESTIONAIRE I APPENDIX 2: POST-TREATMENT QUESTIONAIRE III APPENDIX 3: PRE-TEST V APPENDIX 4: POST-TEST X APPENDIX 5: SAMPLE OF LESSON PLAN APPLYING CONTENT-BASED APPROACH…… XV APPENDIX 6: CLASSROOM OBSERVATION SHEET XXV

PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for choosing the topic

The unprecedented spread of English throughout the world in recent years has resulted in its major role and high prestige in the academic, cultural, and political landscape of a growing number of countries (Crystal, 1995, 1997; Fishman, Cooper, and Conrad, 1977; McArthur, 1998, 2002) Because

of its international role in international economic relations and cultural exchange, the need for communication in English is becoming more and more important As Harmer (1991) indicates ―people want to study English because

it offers a chance for advancement in their professional lives‖

―Traditionally the aim of linguistics had been to describe the rules of English usage, that is, the grammar However the new studies shifted attention away from defining the formal features of language usage to discovering the ways in which language is actually used in real communication‖ ( Widdowson, 1978, in Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p 7) With subsequent developments, it required an emergence for English courses tailored to specific needs for groups of learners that people called English for Specific Purposes or ESP for short Since its emergence in the late 1960s, ESP has drawn upon three major realms of knowledge: language, pedagogy and the students/ participants’ specialist areas (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987, p 9) However, after some initial success, ESP was found to be of some limitations

to both teachers and learners For example, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) indicate that as well as having to cope with the uncertain values of the strange land of ESP, ESP teachers may also have to struggle to master language and subject matter beyond the bounds of their previous experience Also, as ESP

is language-centred, and the language-driven approach is in its dominance, this mode unintentionally poses many difficulties on teachers and learners as

they have to cope with linguistics surface form through monotonous specialist texts Rivers (1992) points out that although learners can participate in memorized conversations easily and effortlessly, hardly any can produce at length fluent variations from the basic materials, and none could talk on unrehearsed topics without hesitation In the trend of integration nowadays, a country can hardly be isolated and self-sufficient

As for the local context, since Vietnam became the 150th member of the World Trade Organization in 2007, more and more foreign investors have poured capital into Vietnam English has become the ultimate means of communication in foreign trade To meet the society’s needs, Vietnamese students must have sound English knowledge to work well in their jobs They need to be not only proficient in general English (GE) but also capable of interpreting specialist contents To help students achieve this aim, the choice

of appropriate learning materials in harmony with suitable teaching methods

is considered as a vital and primary concern for ESP teachers, language program developers, and also curriculum designers It was mainly this reason

that motivated the researcher to choose the thesis topic: ―Using a

content-based approach to teaching English to students of environmental studies: An action research study‖

2 Purposes of the study:

This study aims at exploring the effectiveness of the application of a content-based approach in teaching Environmental English studies at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment

The specific objectives of the study are:

- To examine the extent to which the attitude of students at Central College

of Natural Resources and Environment was changed following the application

of a content-based approach in teaching Environmental English in their class

- To investigate how effective the application of a content-based approach was in helping students at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment learn Environmental English

3 Research questions

In order for sufficient and necessary data and information to be collected, the following three major questions were answered, namely:

Question 1: To what extent does the application of a content-based approach

change the attitude of students at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment toward learning environmental English?

Question 2: To what extent does the application of a content-based approach

help students at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment to learn environmental English?

4 Significance of the study

This study is hoped to make both theoretical and practical contributions

to the field of ESP in Vietnam Specifically, the intended theoretical significance of the study is that the study supplies the English language teachers with an understanding of a content-based approach to teaching Environmental English studies along with its advantages and disadvantages when employed in the context of a Vietnamese college In addition, the study also suggests some ways to use a content-based approach successfully during all stages of teaching ESP

5 Design of the study

This study is divided into three main parts Part A, INTRODUCTION, presents the rationale for choosing the topic, the aims and objectives, the scope, the significance and the design of the study Part B, DEVELOPMENT, has three following chapters:

Chapter one presents the literature review which deals with the

theoretical background that precedes and necessitates the formation of our research Chapter Two details the methodology applied in the study including,

a brief introduction to the action research design, the setting, participants, instrumentation, and the action research procedure Chapter Three presents results and discussions, and implications of the results for the teaching of Environmental English studies Part C, CONCLUSION, summarizes the findings and proposes possible solutions to the problems identified Limitations of the study and suggestions for further study are also discussed

in this part

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

1.1 Definitions of ESP and related concepts

1.1.1 ESP/EAP/EOP

To date, there have been a variety of views and definitions of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) in contrast with General English (GE), such as those suggested by Munby (1978), Kennedy and Bolitho (1984), Robinson (1991), Dudley-Evans (1998), etc Most of the authors agree that ESP courses are those entirely governed by the communicative needs of the learner with regards to the curriculum and teaching/learning materials (Munby, 1978), or those based on the learner’s purposes identified through investigations and their communicative needs generated from those purposes (Kennedy and Bolitho, 1984) Meanwhile, Robinson (1991) believes that ESP aims at the final goals and is based on needs analysis, which informs the course designers

of what the learner expects and is expected to be able to perform through the means of English Despite individual differences in their wording, these conceptualizations center round a common core: the specific needs of the learner

Carrying these views further, Dudley-Evans (1998) identifies ESP as containing such characteristics as the following:

i An ESP course is designed to satisfy specific needs of the learner;

ii It applies the methods and [linguistic] activities of the discipline or field it serves;

iii It focuses on the type of language relevant to those activities in terms

of grammar, vocabulary, style, register, discourse and rhetoric’s, to name just

a few

In most cases, ESP is dedicated to adult learners at tertiary, vocational education and training service providers, or working at particular institutions These learners tend to start from the intermediate or advanced level, i.e they have already had a fundamental command of English In other words, they have reached a considerable level of GE before commencing their ESP course This also means that ESP may not be suitable for complete beginners, and helps distinguish GE from ESP

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:17), ESP can comprise several branches, as the tree on the following page clearly displays As seen

in the ELT tree, 3 representatives of ESP include English for Science and Technology, English for Business and Economics, and English for Social Sciences These are further divided into more specific ones such as EAP (English for Academic Purposes) and EOP (English for Occupational Purposes), which cover English for Medicine, English for Technicians, English for Office Staff, English for Psychology, amongst others Naturally, this is a non-exhaustive list, since each of these ―Englishes‖ can still be further specified, e.g English for Medicine can be broken down into English for Surgeons vs English for Operating Theater Assistants, English for General Nurses vs English for Dentistry, etc

The Tree of ELT (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:17)

1.1.2 English for non-majors, English for majors and ESP in Vietnam

In Vietnam, the term ―tiếng Anh không chuyên‖ (lit English for majors or Non-language Majors) is used in contrast to ―tiếng Anh chuyên ngữ‖ (lit English for [Language] Majors), which has caused certain confusion, especially when the term ESP was introduced

Non-First, English for Non-majors refers to the English program delivered to

students of different disciplines who will use English as an additional

instrument for their studies and work, while English for Majors means the

English program for those who are going to work as English teachers or interpreters, to name just two of the possible occupations graduates from this program can assume In other words, different uses of English will serve as

the livelihood to majors while English is only secondary to non-majors

English for Majors can be offered to:

i High school students who demonstrate a high level of language aptitude This program is available only at a selected number of institutions, e.g the Special High School belonging to the University of Languages and International Studies (ULIS) under VNU, the Special High School belonging

to Hanoi University of Education in the city of Hanoi, and some classes in Lam Sơn High School in Thanh Hoá province and similar high schools in other provinces;

ii Undergraduate students at various higher educational institutions along the country

Typical features of this program’s curricula include ―traditional philological models centering round English linguistic theory, English language practice and English literature‖ (Cao Thanh Hương, 2004:28) As has been described, graduates from this program can work as interpreters, translators, language teachers, linguistic or literary researchers, etc

Therefore, compared to different terms in the ELT tree above, English for

Non-majors in Vietnam is far more inclusive, covering both GE and ESP,

while English for Majors is close to ESL (English as a Second Language) or

EFL (English as a Foreign Language), although there is little natural linguistic environment for students to practice the language outside their classrooms

Furthermore, the term English for Non-majors so far seems to have been

connotatively interpreted as fairly low levels of English, i.e those non-majors are poor English users in the eyes of the supposedly more ―linguistically able‖ majors

The two terms majors and non-majors had been prevalent in the country

until the mid-1990s when another concept made its appearance – ESP Several Vietnamese foreign language educators believe ESP is the one with limited use in particular specializations or disciplines (Cao Thanh Hương, 2004:29) This again coincides with what has been suggested by several authors cited above

1.1.3 English for non-majors and ESP in practice in Vietnam

However, interpretations of the concepts English for Non-majors and

ESP vary across different administrators and program designers who are influential to course design, which results in differences in foreign language training curricula and methodology Prior to the 1990s, only a few could develop appropriate courses for their students, e.g Hanoi University of Technology, Hanoi University of Civil Engineering, or Hanoi University of National Economics where relevant reading materials were compiled In the former Hanoi University (now Vietnam National University, Hanoi, or VNU for short), a number of textbooks were developed in accordance with ESP

principles, for instance English for Economics by Lê Thụy Ánh, which

partially responded to essential needs of the students majoring in these disciplines In other institutions, however, due to the diversity of programs offered, and the uncertainty of what particular jobs graduates are likely to take, true ESP courses were hard to design and deliver Most of what was called ESP was actually hours of laborious struggle with subject-matter

reading materials full of unfamiliar concepts and huge numbers of highly professional terms to teachers and students alike

As a result, the prevalent method then was grammar-translation, which produced graduates who could read and translate materials of the subject they majored in, yet their listening and speaking skills were fairly poor This is possibly the reason why non-majors tend to be described as ―deaf and dumb‖ when it comes to communication in English Teachers of English to non-majors consequently had to suffer as well: they may be regarded as second-class compared to teachers of English to majors, and both could not be on the par with subject-matter lecturers Never had foreign language teaching, including English teaching, been regarded as a science proper

Since the early 1990s, progress has been made in the perception towards foreign language teaching in the country, which has brought about positive changes to both the curricula and teaching methodology A brief look at some English curricula accessible to us below can help illustrate this point

The English program for technical and vocational schools developed by Lê

Ngọc Tường et al (2002: 6) clearly points out, ―the program … is topic-based, i.e topics serve as the basis for selecting reading materials, exercises and activities in each unit; they govern the linguistic content of the program.‖ The program thus aims at the target careers and/or professions of the learners Nevertheless, given the variety of technical and vocational schools in the country, the topics identified in the program remain generic and suggestive in their nature, which requires each technical and voctioanal education and training (TVET) provider to continue to specify them further for their own students

The ESP Reading Syllabus for 2nd-year Students of Plants and Vegetation at Tây Nguyên University by Ngô Văn Thông (2004) is also topic-

based, with reading sub-skills and grammar sections similar to any GE course The most typical ESP elements lie in the vocabulary introduced, for instance, Unit 1 on traditional rice cultivation, Unit 4 on water resources and irrigation works, Unit 5 on agricultural machinery and technical equipment However, strategies for vocabulary building and professional terminology development

as well as the linguistic rhetoric and register of the field remain unclear

In the same vein, the ESP Reading Syllabus for 2 nd -year Students of Informatics-Electronics at Dak Lak Technical College by Trần Thị Cẩm Linh

(2004) suggested topics like Unit 1 - What is a computer?, Unit 2 – How do computer systems process data?, Unit 5 – Disks and Disk Drives, which demonstrate the author’s efforts to associate language skills with their communicative functions, e.g descriptions of components and characteristics, giving instructions, or explaining procedures Again, like the ESP course on Plants and Vegetation above, this syllabus does not make it clear how many entries there should be in these IT students’ lexicon, or what makes IT English register differ from English used in other areas of study By and large, these two syllabi are more EAP- than EOP-oriented

Unlike the above, the ESP Listening-Speaking Syllabus for 3 rd -year Students of Hotel Management at Phuong Dong University by Trịnh Thị Nha

Trang (2004) tried to combine topics with communicative situations and functions, with situations highly predominant For example, Unit 2 – Hotel Check-in contains listening and speaking activities in possible situations at hotel front office, while Unit 4 – Food Service centers around various situations which are likely to occur in restaurants Topics in the course evolve

as a sequential journey from the time a guest books a hotel room, prepare to depart, arrive at the hotel to the time he/she pays and leaves EOP for hotel management staff is the apparent orientation governing this course

Scanning several other M.A theses with the same purposes of ESP syllabus design, either in listening, speaking or reading, particularly those on reading, which are directly relevant to our study, e.g Đặng Thị Lệ Quyên (2014), Nguyễn Thị Thanh Hà (2011), etc., we can see a similar topic-based trend in their design: they start with topics, then proceed to the particular reading sub-skills to be practiced; next come the linguistic items (lexical resources, technical terms, grammatical structures, etc.) related to the topics and reading sub-skills, and finally other tasks like translation or some integrated skills of speaking, writing or listening based on the reading Realizing the strengths and weaknesses of these courses, and taking into account the particular needs of the students of Accounting at CRCNRE, we hope to be able to create a more appropriate ESP syllabus on the basis of the study

1.2 A content- based approach

1.2.1 Definitions of content-based instruction

Content-Based Instruction (CBI) is ―an approach to second language teaching in which teaching is organized around the content or information that students will acquire, rather than around a linguistic or other type of syllabus‖ (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.204) In other words, CBI involves integrating the learning of language with the learning of content simultaneously; here, content typically means an academic subject matter such as math, science, or social studies In CBI, the language is utilized as the medium for teaching subject content (Mohan, 1986) The language learning objectives are achieved through content learning The syllabi in most CBI courses are derived from content areas, and vary widely in detail and format In a word, CBI is a method of teaching language and content in tandem

CBI requires better language teachers Language teachers must be knowledgeable in content areas and be able to elicit knowledge from students

In addition, language teachers have such responsibility as to keep context and comprehensibility foremost in their instruction, to select and adapt authentic materials for use in class, to provide scaffolding for students’ linguistic content learning, and to create learner-centered classrooms (Stryker & Leaver, 1993)

CBI requires better learners as well Students are hypothesized to become autonomous and independent in CBI, so that they are conscious of their own learning process and can take charge of their learning Furthermore, students are expected to support each other in collaborative modes of learning Finally, students need to make commitment to this new approach to language learning (Stryker & Leaver, 1993) Typically, the materials in CBI are used with the subject matter of the content course It is recommended that ―authentic‖ materials are identified and utilized There are two implications of authenticity One implication is that the materials are similar to those used in native-language instruction; the other relates to the use of newspaper and magazine articles and any other media materials ―that were not originally produced for language teaching purposes‖ (Brinton et al., 1989) Some realia such as tourist guidebooks, technical journals, railway timetables, newspaper ads, or TV broadcasts are also recommended by many CBI practitioners (Richards & Rodgers, 2001)

CBI in language teaching has been widely used in a variety of different settings since 1980s such as English as Specific Purpose (ESP) Programs for Students with limited English Proficiency (SLEP), Language for Specific Purposes (LSP), immersion programs, and ESL/EFL Language Programs Since CBI refers to an approach rather than a method, no specific techniques

or activities are associated with it At the level of procedure, teaching materials and activities are selected according to the extent to which they match the type of program Finally, CBI provides the opportunity for teachers

to match students’ interests and needs with interesting, comprehensible, and meaningful content (Brinton et al., 1989)

1.2.2 Types of Content-Based Instruction

1.2.2.1 Theme-based Model

Theme-based language course is structured around topics or themes Major principles underlying theme-based model contain automaticity, meaningful learning, intrinsic motivation, and communicative competence (Brown, 2001) Its primary purpose is to help students develop second language competence within specific topic areas The topics chosen can be several unrelated topics or one major topic Language instructors are responsible for language and content instruction (Brinton et al., 1989) The theme-based model is mainly employed in adult schools, language institutions, and all other language programs It is suitable for low to advanced learners

1.2.2.2 Sheltered Model

Sheltered instruction is an approach to using second language acquisition strategies while teaching content area instruction In the sheltered model, an academic subject matter is taught by content teachers in content areas, such as science, mathematics, history, or literature via using language and context to make the information comprehensible Characteristics of sheltered instruction include comprehensible inputs, warm and affective environments, high levels

of student interaction, student-centered, hands-on tasks, and comprehensive planning (Echevarria & Graves, 2003) In the sheltered model, content courses are taught in the second language by a content area specialist to a

group of ESL learners having been grouped together (Richards & Rogers, 2005) or a language teacher with content-area knowledge (Gaffield Vile, 1996)

1.2.2.3 Adjunct Model

Adjunct model constitutes a more sophisticated pattern for the integration

of language and content It aims at connecting a specially designed language course with a regular academic course In the adjunct model, students enroll

in two linked courses simultaneously—a content course and a language course The content instructor focuses on academic concepts while the language instructor emphasizes language skills using the content-area subject

as a background for contextualizing the language learning process (Brinton et al., 1989) The rationale of this model is that the linked courses can assist students developing academic coping strategies and cognitive skills which can

be transferred to other disciplines The adjunct model is suitable for high intermediate to advanced levels (Brinton et al., 1989)

In summary, these three models of CBI share a number of common features First, authentic tasks and materials are used in the three models Second, they all share the principle that helps students deal with the content materials On the other hand, they also differ in several ways, including the course aim and learning objectives, instructor’s roles, students’ proficiency levels, and evaluation approaches

1.2.3 Theme-based model in designing ESP material

Brinton et al (1989) indicate that theme-based courses constitute the most common model in CBI thanks to its relative lack of complexity for implementation In the theme-based model, selected topics or themes provide the content for students to learn Themes are the central ideas that organize major curricular units, so they have to be chosen to be appropriate to students’

academic and cognitive interests and needs Moreover, materials in based language instruction are usually teacher-generated or adapted from outside sources

theme-For Eskey (1997), theme-based instruction adds a missing dimension to traditional approaches to language syllabus design Where both form-based and notional/ functional syllabi focus on rules, rather than on real communication, theme-based language courses give learners an interesting subject to learn or communicate about Language is used to explore content, and language growth emerges as students need to comprehend or produce language relating to content Theme-based CBI is particularly appealing in this respect because teachers can use almost any content materials that they feel their students will enjoy Brinton et al (1989) indicate that authentic materials with simplified language are of great choice with an attempt to integrate the topic into the teaching of all language skills Moreover, Grabe and Stoller (1997) share that keeping students motivated and interested are two important factors underlying content-based instruction Motivation and interest are crucial in supporting student success with challenging, informative activities that support success and help the students learn complex skills: reading, speaking, listening and writing

1.3 Issues of CBI

Stryker and Leaver (1993) state that there may be a challenge for learners

to participate in CBI courses CBI is in the ―learning by doing‖ school of pedagogy Learners are expected to be active in different roles and cooperative with each other In addition, they need a commitment to learn language in CBI courses This is an issue for students who are accustomed to whole-class, independent, and traditional learning and teaching models Additionally, learners need to possess a minimum level of language

proficiency so that they can understand the quantity of new information in CBI courses Stryker and Leaver (1993) suggest that students need to be prepared both psychologically and cognitively for CBI, and if they are not adequately prepared, then teachers should offer the missing schemata needs for students Or students need to be kept from enrolling in CBI courses until they are ready In my opinion, I would suggest that teachers need to design a lesson that is intriguing and appealing enough to encourage students to participate in the lesson Moreover, teachers must know how to shelter the content to make it accessible to students

Another issue is that language teachers have been trained to teach linguistic knowledge rather than a content subject Hence, language teachers

―may be insufficiently grounded to teach subject matters.‖ (Richards & Rodgers, 2001, p.220) Indeed, language teachers have not been trained to teach content subjects, and may be questioned about their credibility in CBI courses From my perspective, I would say that language teachers can ask for assistance from content teachers Additionally, language teachers can choose

a content subject that they are familiar with to instruct Do not try to teach all subject matters, that is, language teachers should start small Finally, language teachers can attend professional development workshops to let themselves have second, third, or even fourth profession

Another problem associated with CBI is that language teachers are too concerned with content area teaching and neglect teaching related language skills Language teachers seem to forget the main purpose of CBI is to enhance language development though content areas rather than content learning per se If language components are missing, it cannot be called CBI The language learning aspect should have equal priority with the content learning facet in CBI (Cristopher, 1996)

1.4 An example of CBI

The following example is based on ideas from Larsen-Freeman (2000) Here a tenth grade class in an international school in Taipei is studying both geography and English through CBI The teacher asks the students in English what a globe is Some students call out ―world.‖ Others make a circle with their arms The teacher then reaches under her desk and takes out a globe She puts the global on her desk and asks the students what they know about it Students reply to the teacher’s question enthusiastically as the teacher records their answers on the blackboard When they have trouble explaining a concept, the teacher provides the missing language Next, the teacher distributes a handout that she has prepared based on a video, ―Understanding Globes.‖ The top of the handout is entitled ―Some Vocabulary Need to Know.‖ Listed are some key geographical terms used in the video The teacher asks the students to listen while she reads the ten words: degree, distance, equator, globe, hemisphere, imaginary, latitude, longitude, model, and parallel

The teacher tells the students to read the passage on the handout Students also need to fill in the blanks in the passage with the new vocabulary After students are finished, the teacher shows them the video As students watch the video, they fill in the remaining blanks with certain of the words that the teacher has read aloud

The passage: A is a three-dimensional of the earth Points of interest are located on a globe by using a system of lines For instance, the equator is an imaginary line that divides the earth in half Lines that are parallel to the equator are called lines

of Latitude is used to measure _ on the earth north

and south of the equator… After the video is over, students are paired up to check their answers

Next, the teacher calls attention to a particular verb pattern in the cloze passage: ―are located,‖ ―are called,‖ and ―is used.‖ The teacher tells students that these are examples of the present passive, which they will study in this lesson and the following week The teacher explains that the passive is used to defocus the agent or doer of an action

And then, the teacher elucidates how latitude and longitude can be used to locate any place in the world She gives students several examples Students then utilize latitude and longitude co-ordinate to locate cities in other countries By stating ―The city is located at latitude 60° north and longitude 11° east,‖ the teacher integrates the present passive as well as the content focus at the same time Hands go up The teacher calls on one boy to come to the front of the classroom to find the city He correctly points to Oslo, Norway on the globe The teacher offers other examples

Later, students are formed in small groups to play a guessing game In small groups, they think of the names of six cities They then locate the city

on the globe and write down the latitude and longitude co-ordinates Next, they read the co-ordinates out loud and see whether other students can guess the name of the city The first group says ―This city is located at latitude 5° north and longitude 74° west.‖ After several misses by their classmates, group

4 gets the correct answer: ―Bogotá.‖ Group 4 then give new co-ordinates to the class: ―This city is located at 34° south latitude and 151° east longitude.‖ Group 6 raises their hands and call out loudly: ―Sydney.‖

For homework, students are given a map and a description of Australia They have to read the description and then label the major cities as well as points of the interest on the map

1.5 Chapter summary

So far, this chapter has discussed a number of definitions concerning ESP and related concepts, distinguished ESP from its sub branches of EAP and EOP, clarified the distinction among English for non-majors, English for majors and ESP in Vietnam The chapter then presents an overview of CBI The following chapters will demonstrate the work done throughout these stages of the design process

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

2.1 The participants and CRCNRE context

2.1.1 The context of teaching and learning English at CRCNRE

CRCNRE is located in Bỉm Sơn town, Thanh Hóa province The college is established on the basis of Central Vocational School of Natural Resources and Environment founded in 1969 The School is responsible for training professionals in environment, land management, surveying with vocational primary and intermediate level in Central Vietnam

Since 1996, General English (GE) has been taught at CRCNRE and ESP was brought into the school curriculum in 2008 The students of all faculties learn the same GE program in the same period of time but students of different majors learn different ESP courses At present, the students of Accounting learn 150 periods of GE in their first year with 75 periods each term In their third year they learn 45 periods of ESP after finishing some Vietnamese professional subjects such as Accounting principles, Finance, Financial Accounting, theories of monetary, Macro and Micro economics, Marketing, Business management, Business Statistics, Auditing and so on

In the stage of GE, with the allocation of 150 periods, the teacher and the students have to cover 15 units of the textbook ―Lifelines‖ (Elementary) by Tom Hutchinson, 2004 Therefore, several writing, speaking and reading and listening tasks have to be taken Besides, the teachers of English often have formal discussion on how to adapt the material or to find out a suitable way to teach However, the result of English teaching/learning is not very satisfactory There are many factors involved such as students’ low level of English, students’ low motivation, their unsuitable learning strategies…

Students are from all provinces in the Central They are students who did not pass the entrance exams to university, so they applied for this school

Most of them are studying accounting, environment, geodetic and land management major; they think that English is not necessary for their job in their future, so they do not care to learn English and their English level is low although they have learnt English for seven years since they were in secondary school and high school For these reasons, the teachers have many difficulties in teaching English, especially ESP

While teaching environmental English studies, the teachers always write new words or definitions on the blackboard and they give Vietnamese meaning of every word without any requirement for the students’ prediction

or guessing from context Next, they read aloud and ask the students to listen and repeat Then, they order the students read the text for the first time, in order to find other words still unfamiliar to them After that, the teachers ask the students to read again to do exercises given at the end of the reading text Finally, the teachers or they require the students to translate the text from English into Vietnamese For students’ English level as mentioned above and the teachers have not applied reasonable methods, teaching and learning environmental English studies have still been ineffective

2.1.2 The teachers of English at CRCNRE

There are 6 teachers of English at CRCNRE, aged from 28 to 40 Two of them are working toward an M.A degree, two of them have M.A degrees, and the other two have Bachelor degrees in English All the teachers have to teach both GE and ESP because there are many English courses at the CRCNRE Though most of them are experienced and enthusiastic in teaching GE, none

of them have experience in teaching ESP and they have never taken any courses about ESP teaching method Moreover, when teaching ESP, the teachers of English do not have sufficient knowledge about the specialist field Therefore, it is difficult for them to comprehend the subject matter In

addition, because of the lack of suitable teaching materials written in English, the teachers sometimes have to translate from the Vietnamese books, consult the subject teachers and find materials from other sources to provide the learning materials for the students

2.1.3 The target students

The first factor to mention is the background of the target students of the study They are the third-year students of Accounting at the CRCNRE They have already finished GE in their first year and it is important to mention that when they learn the ESP course in the fifth term of the third year, they have just finished some Vietnamese professional subjects Therefore, they have got fair background knowledge of the field

These students are young, aged from 19 to 25 who did not pass the entrance exams to university, so they applied for this school; most of them are female They come from different parts of the country; mostly from the countryside or remote areas This is the reason why their level of English is rather low A majority of the students cannot make even a simple sentence In addition, many of them cannot pronounce English words correctly With these problems, the teachers obviously encounter many difficulties in meeting the needs of all students Being aware of this problem is of great necessity for the researcher to apply CBI

The second factor which needs to be considered is the typical learning style of students at the CRCNRE They are a bit passive and hardly ever try their best They are too familiar with the teacher-centered methods with emphasis on grammar and vocabulary Some students prefer sitting quietly and working on their own They do not feel comfortable joining class discussions Moreover, most of them turn into their mother tongue while reading They translate sentences by sentences into the first language or

working out their own rules based on the first language There is an urgent task that students’ learning styles and behaviors have to be changed by a good material accompanied with a communicative teaching approach

The third factor to be considered is students’ motivation In general, the students at the CRCNRE are not interested in learning English They are not students of English major, so they do not devote themselves to learning and they do not know the way to learn a foreign language However, the third-year students of environment major at the CRCNRE are more motivated, since they now become aware of the significance of English, especially ESP,

in their study as well as in their future jobs With good English competence, they have a better chance to find jobs with high salary and good perspective for promotion

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 Research questions revisited

This paper was aimed at studying the effectiveness of the application of content-based approach in teaching environmental English studies to improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning 4 English skills and content of environment at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment The research is carried out to answer the two questions that follow:

Question 1: To what extent does the application of a content-based approach

change the attitude of students at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment toward learning environmental English?

Question 2: To what extent does the application of a content-based approach

help students at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment to learn environmental English?

2.2.2 The participants

To achieve the aims of the thesis and answers to the above research questions, the participants of the study consists of 32 third-year students of environment major from the same class and a teacher of the course as an observer in Central College of Natural Resources and Environment

Twenty one students were male and eleven students were female aged between 18 and 21 All of them have learnt English for eight years since secondary school

2.2.3 Instrumentation

In order to pursue this study, the following instruments were employed:

- A pre-test delivered to students before the course commenced to diagnose their problems relating to English skills

- Two post-tests delivered to students in the last week of the course to evaluate their achievements

- A three-item questionnaire at the beginning of the course to investigate the students’ difficulties and limitations in learning English

- A nine-item questionnaire at the end of the course to investigate the students’ achievements and to examine to what extent the application of a content-based approach helped students at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment to learn environmental English better

- Teachers’ observations to understand the students’ attitudes with towards the teachers’ application of CBI in teaching reading texts, the students’ involvement in learning activities, their interaction with each other while completing learning tasks, and the results which they gained when doing exercises

2.2.5 The post test

Following the principle of evaluation, the researcher implemented the summative evaluation This process sought to answer the following questions:

- How effective was the course? Did it achieve its aims?

- What did the students learn?

- How well was the course received by students and the teacher?

- How appropriate were the teaching methods?

―Apart from the relatively informal ways of assessing mastery of objectives, formal tests are probably the commonest means used to measure the achievement‖ (Richards, 2001, p 292) Also, Weir (1995, in Richards, 2001,

p 293) points out that ―achievement tests can have an important wash back effect on teaching and learning‖

To this research, the post test was given to two the students by the researcher at the end of the course Its details are as follows:

Part 1: Testing reading comprehension: students were asked to be able to recall vocabulary as well as link their background knowledge of environmental major through matching and multiple choice exercises

Part 2: Testing language focus: This part aimed at assessing students’ translation ability Translating articles from specialist magazines, or newspapers was of great focus

Part 3: Testing listening skill: This part tested students the ability to listen to the specialist information

Besides, oral exercises were also implemented through peer interactions and group presentations in class

2.2 Action research procedure

Step 1: Initiation (Identifying the problem)

From the context of teaching and learning environmental English studies at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment, I realized that students could not improve all the 4 skills Therefore, they could only write some new words and definitions of the environmental major after each lesson but they could not speak or listen to them Therefore, most of the students feel bored with the lessons To solve this issue, I carried out this action research

―Using a content-based approach in teaching environmental English studies at Central College of Natural Resources and Environment.‖

Sep 2: Preliminary Investigation (Collecting data through a variety of means)

When talking with my colleagues and students, I found that it seemed that the students were not confident to speak English due to their low English ability levels Also, to identify their English ability levels, I gave a pre-test to

100 students of environment major

To this research, the pre-test was designed by the teacher of the course, and it was then given to students by the researcher at the beginning of the course

To find out the difficulties faced by the students and the causes of those difficulties, I conducted a survey questionnaire to get information from 32 students of environment major on June 2nd 2014

Step 3: Hypothesis (Developing research questions)

After reviewing the initial data, I formed the hypothesis that the majority of the students encountered difficulties in listening and speaking English This was due to the fact that English was not their major subject, so they just learnt it to meet the short-term goal of passing the final exam rather than of learning English for their long-term use

Step 4: Intervention (Devising strategies and innovation to be implemented)

The criterion for selection was the environmental topics that were

appropriate to the students’ proficiency level Thus, the ten topics used as the

material in this study were collected from ―Environmental English Studies)‖ dealing with such topics as greenhouse effect, traffic pollution, water pollution, air pollution, waste pollution, population, and environmental management With each topic, different activities were designed to find out whether students learnt better or not and whether they liked learning or not

The period of applying a content-based approach to teaching and learning English on the recruited student subjects lasted six weeks with a class meeting every week Each week has 6 lessons Each lesson lasts 60 minutes

Step 5: Evaluation (Collecting data again and analyze it to work out the findings)

To evaluate the effectiveness of the application of a content-based approach in teaching environmental English a survey was carried out to get feedback from students by means of the post- test and the questionnaires

Step 6: Dissemination

The results of the action research were reported in this thesis

Step 7: Follow-up (Finding alternative methods to solve the same problem)

After having conducted this study, I became aware that the application

of content-based approach can improve the students’ ability of all the four macro skills and their knowledge of environment major

Summary

This chapter has detailed the action research procedure I presented a research problem that I identified in my teaching job that is students could not improve their English skills and knowledge of environment if the grammar translation method is used singly in the lessons On that basis, I reported on the procedure that I went through to implement the activities involved in applying content-based approach: teaching students to combine what they learned through the course of both the language features and specialist contents The results of this procedure will be discussed in the following chapter