An evaluation of EBP material “english in economics and business” for economics and business management students in hanoi university of mining and geology

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THI ̣ MAI HƯƠNG AN EVALUATION OF EBP MATERIAL “ENGLISH IN

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THI ̣ MAI HƯƠNG

AN EVALUATION OF EBP MATERIAL “ENGLISH IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” FOR ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDENTS IN HANOI UNIVERSITY OF MINING AND GEOLOGY

(ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH THƯƠNG MẠI “ENGLISH IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN KHOA KINH TẾ VÀ QUẢN TRỊ DOANH NGHIỆP TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỎ - ĐỊA CHẤT HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111

Hanoi, 2013

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THI ̣ MAI HƯƠNG

AN EVALUATION OF EBP MATERIAL “ENGLISH IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” FOR ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS MANAGEMENT STUDENTS IN HANOI UNIVERSITY OF MINING AND GEOLOGY

(ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH THƯƠNG MẠI “ENGLISH IN ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS” DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN KHOA KINH TẾ

VÀ QUẢN TRỊ DOANH NGHIỆP TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC MỎ - ĐỊA CHẤT HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111

Supervisor: Assoc Prof Dr Nguyen Phuong Nga

Hanoi, 2013

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CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF THE THESIS

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

“An Evaluation of EBP Material “English in Economics and Business” for the Economics and Business Management Students in Hanoi University of Mining and Geology”

in terms of Statement for thesis and Field Study Reports in Master‟s Programs Issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Nguyễn Thị Mai Hương

November, 2013

I also wish to acknowledge all the staff of the Department of Post-Graduate Studies for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master course for me with valuable knowledge

I would like to extend my deep appreciation to my colleagues and students at English Division – Faculty of General Science, Faculty of Economics and Business Management, Hanoi University of Mining and Geology

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

my parents, my dear husband, and my two little sons Without their help and encouragement, I could not have completed this study

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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

Communicative Language Teaching: CLT English for Academic Purposes: EAP English for Business Purposes: EBP English as A Foreign Language: ELT English for General Business Purposes: EGBP English for Occupational Purposes: EOP English for Specific Purposes: ESP English for Specific Business Purposes: ESBP English for Vocational Purposes: EVP Faculty of Economics and Business Management: FEBM Hanoi University of Mining and Geology: HUMG Vocational English as a Second Language: VESL

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LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES

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

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

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

Table 2 Teachers and Students‟ Perception of the Appropriateness of the Material

to the Course objectives

Table 3 Teachers and Students‟ Perception of the Appropriateness of the Material‟s Contents

Table 4 Teachers and Students‟ Perception of the Appropriateness of the Material‟s Methodology

Table 5 Teachers and Students‟ Suggestions

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF THE THESIS i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iii

LIST OF FIGURES AND TABLES iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS v

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale of the Study 1

2 Scope of the Study 2

3 Methodology 2

4 Design of the Study 2

PART II: DEVELOPMENTS 4

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 English for Specific Purposes 4

1.1.1 Definition of ESP 4

1.1.2 A Brief Classification of ESP 5

1.2 English for Business Purposes 6

1.2.1 Definition and Characteristics 6

1.2.2 English for General Business Purposes and English for Specific Business Purposes 8

1.3 Materials Evaluation 9

1.3.1 Definition of Materials 9

1.3.2 Materials Evaluation 9

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1.3.3 Types of Materials Evaluation 10

1.3.3.1 Pre – use Evaluation 11

1.3.3.2 In – use Evaluation 12

1.3.3.3 Post – use Evaluation 13

1.3.4 Criteria for Materials Evaluation 14

1.3.4.1 Sheldon’s Criteria 15

1.3.4.2 Hutchinson and Waters’ Criteria 15

1.4 Previous Researches on Materials Evaluation 16

CHAPTER II: THE METHODOLOGY 19

2.1 The Current Teaching and Learning Situation at HUMG 19

2.2 Research Methodology 20

2.2.1 Research Questions 20

2.2.2 Survey Questionnaire 21

2.2.3 Interviews 22

2.3 Participants of the Survey 22

2.3.1 The Teachers 22

2.3.2 The Students 23

2.4 Data Collection Instruments 24

2.4.1 Survey Questionnaires For Teachers 24

2.4.2 Survey Questionnaires for Students 24

2.4.3 Informal Interviews with Teachers and Students 25

2.5 Data Collection Procedures 25

CHAPTER III: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 27

3.1 The Course Objectives 27

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3.2 The Material Analysis 28

3.2.1 The Description of the Material “English in Economics and Business” 28

3.2.2 The Appropriateness of the Material to the Course objectives 28

3.2.3 The Appropriateness of the Material to the Content Requirements 30

3.2.4 The Appropriateness of the Material to the Teaching Methodology Requirements 32

3.3 The Survey Results 33

3.3.1 Teachers and Students’ Perception of Course objectives 33

3.3.2 Teachers and Students’ Perception of the Material’s Contents and Methodology 34

3.3.2.1 The Appropriateness of the Contents 35

3.3.2.2 The Appropriateness of Methodology 39

3.3.2.3 Teachers and Students’ Suggestions 42

PART III: CONCLUSION 45

1 Conclusion 45

2 Recommendations 46

3 Limitations of the Study 47

4 Suggestions for Further Research 47

REFERENCES 49 APPENDICES I

APPENDIX 1 II APPENDIX 2 V APPENDIX 3 VIII

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APPENDIX 4 XIAPPENDIX 5 XIVAPPENDIX 6 XVIIAPPENDIX 7 XX

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale of the Study

English for Specific Purposes (ESP), along with the development of English as the most powerful language in the world, has been a popular field for such a great of scholars such as Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Ian McGrath (2005), Dudley – Evans, and John (2007), and so on Specifically, English for Business Purposes (EBP) has been increasingly growing in the field of ESP parallel with the expansion

of the global commerce As a result, any Vietnamese Business Administration graduates who long to be recruited by a foreign enterprise need to train themselves really good skills and knowledge of Business English The teaching of EBP has been apparently developing rapidly as well as the increase of various textbooks and material employed However, it is really hard to say which material is more appropriate or which is less

From the current situation, the issue here is to choose a right material for learners to study EBP effectively A great deal of institutions and universities are teaching EBP with different kinds of material The most essential goal here is to satisfy the needs

of students and employers in their future career The Faculty of Economics and Business Management, Hanoi University of Mining and Geology has started to

facilitate the course book English in Economics and Business for ESP courses since

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

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

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2 Scope of the Study

The study limits itself to evaluate the EBP material “English in Economics and Business” – an EBP text material that has been used at Faculty of Economics and

Business Management for 5 years It is accomplished in the view of the third year students who have just finished studying it and teachers who have been using it

3 Methodology

This study employs the qualitative approach to evaluate the material English in Economics and Business using survey questionnaires and interviews It specifically

aims to address the following research questions:

 To what degree is this material suitable with the training objectives of the

Hanoi University of Mining and Geology?

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

4 Design of the Study

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

The Introduction aims at the rationale, the aims, the scope, the methodology and also the design of the study

The Developments consists of three chapters Chapter I is Literature Review This chapter reviews some theories of basic concept (ESP, EBP, material evaluation) based on the publications in the field She also analyses some previous researches in the same field Chapter II is the methodology In this chapter, the author presents the research methodology and the instruments used to collect data mainly from the

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questionnaires The interviews are used to make clear some misunderstandings in the questionnaires The procedure of collecting data and the analysis of the survey data will be described carefully

In the Conclusion, the author briefly summarizes the issues that have been investigated and suggests some implications

1.1 English for Specific Purposes

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

absolute and variable characteristics In absolute characteristics, they both agree

that ESP is designed to meet the specific needs of the learner; ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves; and ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres

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appropriate to these activities Whereas, in variable characteristics, they state that ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines; ESP may be, in specific teaching situation, a different methodology from that of general English; ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation It could, however, be used for learners at secondary school level; and ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners

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

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

a particular type of teaching material Understood properly, it is an approach to language learning, which is based on learner needs

In brief, the author would like to follow the definition of Hutchinson and Waters because the two writers reach a modern ideology here – “learner – centered”

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

opinion that ESP has certain characteristics as follows: ESP is designed to meet specific needs of learners; ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves; ESP is centered in the language (grammar, lexis, and register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities

1.1.2 A Brief Classification of ESP

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:16) states that ESP has two main types according to whether the learner requires English for academic study (EAP: English for Academic Purposes) or for work/ training (EOP/ EVP/ VESL: English for Occupational Purposes/ English for Vocational Purposes/ Vocational English as a

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Second Language) The target learners of EAP are generally at schools and they need English in their study Meanwhile, EOP is used as part of learners‟ work or occupation, for instance, to communicate with tourists (a tour guide), to persuade the customer (a salesman) The crucial point here is that ESP course which will take place depends mainly on whether the learners are studying English before, during or after the time they are taught in their job

With reference to Dudley – Evans & John (2007: 7) classifies EBP as a category within EOP EBP is sometimes seen as separate from EOP as it involves a lot of General English as well as Specific Purposes English, and also because it is such a large and important category A business purpose is, however, an occupational purpose, so it is logical to see it is part of EOP

These classifications are, of course, not a clear – cut distinction: people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up,

or returns to, a job

1.2 English for Business Purposes

1.2.1 Definition and Characteristics

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

and limit in linguistic term Pickett (1986:16) emphasizes the fact that there is more than one face to business communication with some of it being „a lot nearer the everyday language spoken by the general public than many other segments of ESP‟ Additionally, Pickett introduces the diagrammatic representation in which he suggests two particular aspects to business communication: communication with the public and communication within (intra) a company or between (inter) companies

as follow:

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general English

communication with public

Business English

communication among businesses

specialized language of particular businesses

Figure 1 Diagram of Business Communication (Pickett, 1986: 16)

Pickett‟s distinction is useful; however, it is probably not fine enough for today‟s wide – ranging business activities Even within a particular business, the language requirements of the team negotiating, for instance recruiting and board meeting may

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

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

in the overall context of ESP, as it shares the important elements of needs analysis, syllabus design, course design, and material selection and development which are common to all fields of work is ESP as with other varieties of ESP, Business English implies the definition of a specific language corpus and emphasis on particular kinds of communication in a specific context However, Business English differs from other varieties of ESP in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to general ability to communicate more effectively, albeit in business situations)

– pre – experience (or low – experience) and job – experienced learners „Pre – experienced language learners are those studying, for example, Business Studies or Trade Commerce at schools, colleges, or universities and job – experienced language learners are those coming from companies or other business institutions: managers, office staff and other professionals.‟

According to Dudley & Jo (2007:55), EGBP courses are usually for pre – experience learners or those at the very early stages of their career They are similar

to general EFL courses with the material set in business contexts Many learners attend these courses at a language school and groups will usually be formed on the basis of language level rather than job The vocabulary range of EGBP books clearly differs substantially from that of EGP but the language activities are core EFL ones and the answers are often predictable with more close, right/ wrong responses than unpredictable, open responses As a result, the language which learners acquire is less practical and theoretical Whereas, ESBP courses are run for job – experienced learners who bring business knowledge and skills to the language – learning situation These courses are carefully tailored and likely to focus on one

or two language skills and specific business communicative events The material often include selections from a range of published books, framework material and specially written activities, probably stemming from the learner‟s own business context

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1.3 Materials Evaluation

1.3.1 Definition of Materials

The answer to the question “What is materials?” is solved thoroughly by the

famous writers such as Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Brian Tomlinson (1998), Ian McGrath (2005) Apparently, they all share the same opinions that materials is

anything related to learning and teaching languages In a broad sense, materials

could include „relia‟ (real objects such as a pencil, a chair or a bag) and representations (such as a drawing or photograph of a person, house or scene) Materials of these kind can, of course, be exploited effectively for language learning and advice on their use can be found in books that deal specifically with the use of visual aids (Ian McGrath, 2005: 7)

In this study, the conductor would like to mention text materials (textbook) only for

her analysis and evaluation latter on

1.3.2 Materials Evaluation

Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 96) state that evaluation is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose Given a certain need, and in the light

of the resources available, which out of possibilities can represent the best solution?

Evaluation is, then, concerned with relative merit There is no absolute good or bad – only degrees of fitness for the required purpose

Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997) suggest that textbook evaluation helps teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and it helps them to acquire useful, accurate, systematic, and contextual insights into the overall nature of textbook materials Textbook evaluation, therefore, can potentially be a particularly worthwhile means of conducting action research as well as a form of professional empowerment and improvement Similarly, textbook evaluation can also be a

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

Tomlinson (2005: 15) affirms that materials evaluation is a procedure that involves measuring the value (or potential value) of a set of learning material It involves

making judgments about the effect of the materials on the people using them He

also states that an evaluation is not the same as an analysis It can include an

analysis or follow from one, but the objectives and procedures are different An evaluation focuses on the users of the materials and makes judgments about their effects No matter how structured, criterion referenced and rigorous an evaluation

is, it will be essential subjective On the other hand, an analysis focuses on the materials and it aims to provide an objective analysis on them It „asks questions about what the materials contain, what they aim to achieve and what they ask learners to do‟ (Tomlinson, 1999: 10)

Materials evaluation, according to Dudley & Jo (2007:128), is a whole process that begins with determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about change in current activities or influencing future ones

Obviously, Hutchinson and Walters‟s definition is most universally accepted because of its focus on learners‟ purposes – learner – centered approach

1.3.3 Types of Materials Evaluation

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

into three types: Preliminary, Formative and Summative evaluation

Similarly, Tomlinson (2005) and Ian McGrath (2005) also categorize materials evaluation into three stages which seems to be the most widely accepted He states

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that materials evaluation is composed of 3 stages: pre – use, in – use, and post – use evaluation In this study, the researcher would like to follow Ian McGrath‟s

categorization because of its clear distinction and explanation

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

1.3.3.1 Pre – use Evaluation

According to Tomlinson (2005: 23), pre – use evaluation involves making predictions about the potential value of materials for their users It can be context –

free, as in a review of materials for a journal, context – influenced as in a review of draft material for a publisher with target users in mind or context – dependent, as when a teacher selects a course book for use with her particular class Often pre – used evaluation is impressionistic and consists of a teacher flicking through a book

to gain a quick impression of its potential value (publishers are well aware of this procedure and sometimes place attractive illustrations in the top right – hand corner

of the right – hand page in order to influence the flicker in a positive way) Even a review for a publisher or journal, and an evaluation for a ministry of education is

Pre – use evaluation

established potential

suitability

Post – use evaluation used data on in –

course use and data on effects to assess suitability of selection and selection

procedures

In – use evaluation gathers data on

planning decision, implementation and response; may stimulate preliminary reconsiderations of selection criteria

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often „fundamentally a subjective, rule of thumb activity‟ (Sheldon, 1988: 245) and often mistakes are made Making an evaluation criterion – referenced can reduce (but not remove) subjectivity and can certainly help to make an evaluation more principled, rigorous, systematic and reliable This is especially true if more than two evaluators conduct the evaluation independently and then average their conclusions

1.3.3.2 In – use Evaluation

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

„Are the instruction clear to the learners?‟) and cannot claim to measure what is happening in the learners‟ brains It can measure short – term memory through observing learner performance on exercises but it cannot measure durable and effective learning because of the delayed effect of instruction It is therefore very useful but dangerous too, as teachers and observers can be misled by whether the activities seem to work or not

Exactly what can be measured in an in – use evaluation is controversial; however,

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

of performance objectives, potential for localization, practicality of the materials, teachability of the materials, flexibility of the materials, appeal of the materials, motivating power of the materials, impact of the materials, effectiveness in facilitating short – term learning Most of these can be estimated during an open – ended, impressionistic observation of materials in use but greater reliability can be achieved by focusing on one criterion at a time and by using pre – prepared instruments of measurement

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1.3.3.3 Post – use Evaluation

Post – use evaluation is probably the most valuable (but least administered) type of evaluation as it can measure the actual effects of the materials on the users It can measure the short – term effect as regards motivation, impact, achievability, instant learning, etc., and it can measure the long – term effect as regards durable learning and application (Tomlinson, 2005: 25)

Post – use evaluation can answer such important questions as:

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

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

 What can the learners do which they could not do before starting to use the materials?

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

In other words, it can measure the actual outcomes of the use of the materials and thus provide the data on which reliable decisions about the use, adaptation or replacement of the materials can be made

Ways of measuring the post – use effects of materials include:

 tests of what has been „taught‟ by the materials;

 tests of what the students can do;

 examinations;

 interview;

 questionnaires;

 criterion – referenced evaluations by the users;

 post – course diaries;

 post – course „shadowing‟ of the learners;

 post – course reports on the learners by employers, subject tutors, etc

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The main problem, of course, is that it takes time and expertise to measure post – use effects reliably (especially as, to be really revealing, there should be measurement of pre – use attitudes and abilities in order to provide data for post – use comparison)

In this study, the researcher would employ post – use evaluation method to evaluate the assigned material because of its reliability and usefulness to provide important information about the appropriateness of the material

1.3.4 Criteria for Materials Evaluation

The aim to use criteria for materials evaluation is to “reach a decision regarding what needs to be evaluated” (Tomlinson, 1998:220) This means they are the foundation upon which evaluators depend when making judgments Therefore, one

of the most important steps that evaluator should spend time on is defining evaluation criteria

According to Dudley – Evans & John (2007), criteria for materials evaluation depend on what is being evaluated and why they need to be evaluated Regarding criteria for materials evaluation, in the literature many experts (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987; Sheldon, 1988; Ellis and Johnson, 1994; Wallace, 1998; Tomlinson, 2005) have suggested certain sets of criteria in the forms of checklists or guidelines These scholars go to two main schools of evaluation: the one focuses mainly in the content of the material with Hutchinson and Waters as representatives; the other focuses on both the appearance and content of the materials with Sheldon as representative In this study, the author reviews these two schools which seem to be the most relevant and popular to materials evaluation

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1.3.4.1 Sheldon’s Criteria

Sheldon (1988) suggests such a wide range of criteria that can be applied for almost aspects of materials She offers a checklist containing a great s of “key questions” for the evaluators to find the answer when evaluating materials They include rationale, availability, user definition, layout/ graphic, accessibility, linkage, selection/ grading, physical characteristics, appropriacy, authenticity, sufficiency, cultural bias, educational validity, stimulus/ practice/ revision, flexibility, guidance, and overall value for money

As it can be seen, Sheldon states to some extent many criteria to evaluate the materials Most dimensions of the materials are under investigated, which leads to some major issues For example, layout/ graphic or physical characteristics required

to be evaluated by graphic designers or appearance designers of the materials As a result, evaluator needs a great deal of time and effort to accomplish this kind of work

1.3.4.2 Hutchinson and Waters’ Criteria

As mentioned before, evaluation involves making judgments which means the evaluator needs criteria for comparative analysis Hutchinson and Waters (1987) have their own system of criteria They concentrate mainly on evaluating the content of the book itself Generally, their opinions focus on the following points:

First, according to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), audience of the book is a leaner

– centered approach, the biggest aim of the ESP course is to meet the needs of learners The book therefore should be designed with its focus on learners‟ demands As a result, the first and foremost criterion in materials evaluation is the audience such as personal information (age, sex, study or professional area), work experience, language level, cultural and educational background, and so on

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Secondly, evaluator must find out whether the materials can satisfy the aims and objectives of the language course

The third criterion of the checklist which Hutchinson and Waters (1987) affirm is

the content of the materials This includes language description, language points

covered, proportion of work on each macro – skill, micro skills needed, text types which should be included, so on and so forth

The fourth criterion is the methodology It is common knowledge that methodology

plays such a crucial role in the achievement of a language course It pays attention

to learners‟ expectation from the course, task types, teaching techniques as well as aids, etc

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

above criteria

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

be chosen to make evaluation yet manageable In this research, the criteria suggested by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) will be applied because of their suitability with the real ESP circumstance in HUMG‟s context

1.4 Previous Researches on Materials Evaluation

There have been a certain of studies carried out by researchers to evaluate published or in – house teaching materials, each of which may make use of different approach to materials evaluation However, they all demonstrate how materials evaluation provides feedback for improvement and modification The author would like to mention several of works which have the same topic – materials evaluation

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The first research is “An Evaluation of Material “Business Objectives” for Students

at Hanoi University of Business and Management” by Dung (2004) This study

aimed to evaluate the material in terms of objectives, contents, methodology and to determine whether the material is suitable to the students with regards to their level

of English The methodology employed was document analysis, questionnaire and interviews After collecting the data, the researcher concluded about the suitability

of the book to the objectives of the course and the content requirements She also stated some recommendations and suggestions based on research findings

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

“Business Venture 2” for the Second Year Business Administration Students in Haiphong Private University in the light of CLT” The author used CLT as a main

goal to evaluate the material using qualitative research method including survey questionnaires, interview and direct class observation She noticed some serious problems from both teachers and students are time pressure, the book‟s unbalanced skill focus, inadequate business terms and practice exercise provision as well as the class size Those elements put together show tremendous demand for the material adaptation, which was clearly explained by the author

Nhan (2006) made a research named “An evaluation of the textbook “Oxford English for Electronics” and suggestions for new materials design” This study was

carried out with the purpose of finding out the perception of both teachers and students of a course book which is used at the Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications, College of Technology, Vietnam National University, Hanoi The research was conducted at macro level and aimed to check the general effectiveness of the particular material after using it The methods used in this study were survey questionnaires for both teachers and students who are using the book, interviews for teachers and informal discussion with the students of College of Technology through their own forum Nhan found out that beside several strong points especially in format/ organization and electronic content, the textbook

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

One of the common points in these researches is that they all used Hutchinson and Waters‟ criteria (1987) to evaluate their materials This demonstrates the effectiveness of these criteria and thoroughly helps the author conduct her study

The researcher also found out that questionnaires, interviews, class observation seem to be popular methods to collect data for materials evaluation In this study, the author would employ survey questionnaires and informal unstructured interviews Informal as well as unstructured interviews are used after analyzing survey questionnaire data with the purpose of getting more objective information about the material in order to increase the credibility of the evaluation

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CHAPTER II: THE METHODOLOGY

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

2.1 The Current Teaching and Learning Situation at HUMG

The students at FEBM, HUMG are the mature ones who had passed the university entrance exam and two terms tests during their university first year, which were approved in accordance with the principles, set by the Ministry of Education and Training They are apparently supposed to be at low – intermediate Basic English

level The course book they had finished was “New English File 2” (Oxeden,

1997) Actually, the students at HUMG are mixed in terms of their English levels They have very different backgrounds, some have studied English since primary schools; however, the others seem to start learning English at their tertiary education As a result, when grouped in the same class, they vary in not only their English levels but also their learning styles, which have a huge influence on the teaching and learning English

Some characteristics of the Business English Course, of the survey students and the teachers should be generally described As a matter of fact, at Hanoi University of Mining and Geology, Business Management students need to complete English

courses in 3 semesters, two of which are for basic English with the materials: “New English File 2” (Oxeden, 1997) and the next term is for English for Business English with the material: “English in Economics and Business”

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

to translate words to words, sentences by sentences into their mother tongue while reading These issues definitely need to be changed by a suitable material and reasonable adaptation to meet students‟ needs

Beside teaching and learning styles, material also plays such an important part in

the coursesuccess While the previous course book “New English File 2” (Oxeden,

1997) motivated students to learn English quite effectively, it is not a likelihood that

the current material “English in Economics and Business” encourage them to work

Teaching and learning ESP at FEBM, HUMG bear a great deal of issues which need solving However, in this size of a small research, the author would evaluate the material based on opinions of teachers and students towards it This aims to see whether the material is appropriate to students‟ needs or not

2.2 Research Methodology

2.2.1 Research Questions

The author uses the qualitative approach using survey questionnaires and interviews

to evaluate the material “English in Economics and Business” These instruments

are employed to answer the following research questions:

 To what degree is this material suitable with the training objectives of the

Hanoi University of Mining and Geology?

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

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2.2.2 Survey Questionnaire

Brown (2001: 6) states that “Questionnaires are any written instruments that present respondents with a series of questions or statements to which they are to react either by writing out their answers or selecting from among existing answers.”

According to Dornyei (2003: 3), because the essence of scientific research is trying

to find answers to questions in a systematic manner, it is no wonder that the

questionnaire has become one of the most popular research instruments applied in

the social sciences Questionnaires are certainly the most often employed data collection devices in statistical work The main attraction of questionnaires is their unprecedented efficiency in terms of researcher‟s time, effort, and financial resources By administering a questionnaire to a group of people, one can collect a huge amount of information in less than an hour, and the personal investment required will be a fraction of what would have been needed for, say, interviewing the same of people Furthermore, if the questionnaire is well constructed, processing the data can also be fast and relatively straightforward, especially by using some modern computer software These cost – benefit considerations are very important, particularly for all those who are doing research in addition to having a full – time job (Gillham, 2000)

Therefore, aiming to investigate the perception of teachers and students of the material from the students and teachers who are using the book, the researcher chooses survey questionnaires as the best approach Furthermore, this kind of data collection instrument fitted this study‟s size What is more, students and teachers may feel more comfortable to complete the questions than direct interviews or discussions As a result, the validity and reliability of the data collected are significantly increased

2.3 Participants of the Survey

HUMG is a 47 – year – old university with 13 specific departments “English in Economics and Business” is taught to second – year students at Faculty of

Economics and Business Management In this research, the author invited teachers and students who are working with the material to evaluate it

2.3.1 The Teachers

As assigned by the Leader of Foreign Languages Division at HUMG since 2009,

one group of 4 teachers is responsible for teaching English in Economics and Business to second – year students Up to now, they have been participating in

teaching the material for 5 years Three teachers obtained Master Degree and one is completing her Master Course It is noteworthy that the whole group has no ESP background about Economics and Business Therefore, their teaching shortcomings have been constantly observed As admitted by some teachers, their limited

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Business English knowledge prevents them from teaching effectively Another problem is that none of the teachers have been trained in any English speaking countries Apparently, they are not really confident when teaching speaking or listening skills As a result, lessons are mainly given in Vietnamese Last but not least, time pressure performs as an obstacle in teachers‟ job In such a short time (75 classes), teachers have to teach 64 readings with 17 various topics; therefore, only some certain parts of the book are covered All of these problems have been affected to

the progress in the teaching effectiveness of “English in Economics and Business” to

students at HUMG

2.3.2 The Students

Since 2009, second – year students majoring in Economics, Accounting and

Business Management are to learn “English in Economics and Business” in the

ESP course There is a fact that all students have to share the same syllabus no matter what major they are in Therefore, different requirements of students from various majors have to be met For this reason, the population of the study has been chosen with one target group from Economics major, another from Accounting major and the other from Business Management major to evaluate students‟ opinions about the appropriateness of the material ESP course is the selective one for 3 majors and all students chosen to collect data were 130, including 50 students from Economics major, 40 from Accountant major and 40 from Business Management

It can be seen that second – year students at HUMG have acquired low –

intermediate General English However, “English in Economics and Business” still

makes them feel difficult because it deals with some specific economic issues, together with great deals of new lexis

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2.4 Data Collection Instruments

2.4.1 Survey Questionnaires For Teachers

The researcher made use of the survey questionnaires to investigate teachers‟ opinions on the material with regards to the course objectives, contents and methodology as well as the suggestions for material development The survey questionnaire is in Appendix 1 of the Thesis

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

of the course Section 2 consists of 35 five – point Likert scale questions assessing the appropriateness of the material‟s contents and methodology to the course There are 4 Yes/ No questions in section 3 which mainly deals with the suggestions that teachers think should be made to the material development

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

2.4.2 Survey Questionnaires for Students

Together with survey questionnaire for teachers, another questionnaire is designed

to investigate students‟ attitudes towards the book in terms of the course objectives, the contents and methodology as well as suggestions for material development The survey questionnaire in English is in Appendix 2, and in Vietnamese is in Appendix

3 of the Thesis

The questionnaire is also in 3 sections with similar format as questionnaires for teachers, but with less questions Section 1 with 4 Yes/ No questions deals with the

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

of their responses is ensured and they are much happier to answer these questions in their mother tongue, in fact

2.4.3 Informal Interviews with Teachers and Students

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

a full and detailed picture of the material

2.5 Data Collection Procedures

Data collection was conducted via questionnaires for both the teachers and the students The student survey was administered in the last English class meeting of the course by the author The students were asked to complete the questionnaires right at class so that the researcher could explain any questions raised by students Another survey questionnaire was sent to teachers and they were requested to complete and return the questionnaires in one week to ensure that they would have enough time to give detailed and accurate information

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

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

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CHAPTER III: RESEARCH RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

Chapter III provides a brief description of the book in use for second – year students

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

3.1 The Course Objectives

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

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

Knowledge,

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

ii Understand some major economic concepts and issues, such as: the market economy, history of economic theories, macroeconomics, microeconomics, etc

Skills,

iii Communicate directly in English about specific economic situations, such as contract negotiations, discussions, sales communications, etc

iv Listen comprehensively economic lectures or presentations

v Write short texts about economic issues

vi Present and discuss some basic economic issues in English

It can be said that these objectives are too general and immeasurable while teachers and students needs them be clearer and more detailed Therefore, teachers can write lesson plans or organize activities as well as tasks to help their students gain the course objectives

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3.2 The Material Analysis

3.2.1 The Description of the Material “English in Economics and

Business”

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

“English in Economics and Business” has been chosen as ESP material since 2009

for 3 majored students It has been believed that it is the most suitable one for them After 5 years using the material, it turns out that some of its parts are considered irrelevant to students while some others are relevant

The material “English in Economics and Business” is a 186 – page – long teachers‟

collection of reading material in Economics and Business The texts were collected from various textbooks, popular books on business and economics, reports from different development agencies, and articles written by various writers Then, ESP teachers and an American teacher tailored all the texts to fit the skill level and interests of the students at FEBM, HUMG In addition to, new vocabulary was extracted from each reading to create a word list for each chapter; exercises to practice vocabulary, grammar, and use of language on that particular subject were designed The material consists of 64 readings on 17 different subjects, based on the basic subjects that the students are required to study

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

3.2.2 The Appropriateness of the Material to the Course Objectives

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

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After 5 years of teaching experience, the author found out that it is appropriate to low – intermediate business students with special emphasis on reading skill Finishing studying this material, students are expected to achieve the following objectives:

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

b Understand and remember economic concepts and issues presented

c Understand grammar points and use them in particular subjects

The material is applied without teacher‟s book, but ESP Course Syllabus for Economics and Business Students set out by ESP teachers at FEBM In the syllabus, there is only the proportion of teaching periods for each unit; therefore, teachers have to design lesson plans themselves according to their own understanding as well as their own favorite teaching method They have to make sure that the units taught exactly according to the syllabus

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

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

Nevertheless, the material does not train 4 course objectives (i.e (iii) Communicate directly in English about specific economic situations, such as contract negotiations, discussions, sales communications, etc., (iv) Listen comprehensively economic lectures or presentations, (v) Write short texts about economic issues, (vi) Present and discuss some basic economic issues in English) Therefore, it is necessary to have supplementary materials and more time to train students these skills

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

3.2.3 The Appropriateness of the Material to the Content Requirements

The appropriateness of the material to the content requirements of the course was identified by the comparison between the content requirements of the course and the content found in the material These requirements were used as the criteria to analyze the material in this evaluation research

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

 The Basic Economic Problem

 The Market Mechanism

The Market Economy

History of Economic theory

3 Chapter III: Macroeconomics

 Macroeconomics

Macroeconomics