AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE NEEDS FOR LEARNING ESP BY CONSTRUCTION STUDENTS AT HUE SCHOOL OF TRANSPORT (2)

The study focused on: i exploring Construction students’ attitudes towards learning ESP at HST, their evaluation on the importance of ESP learning, the difficulties faced by students in

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-NGUYEN THI NGOC HUYEN

AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE NEEDS FOR LEARNING ESP BY CONSTRUCTION STUDENTS

AT HUE SCHOOL OF TRANSPORT

MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

In partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

of Master of Arts, Hue University of Foreign Languages

HUE, 2016

MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING

HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES

-NGUYEN THI NGOC HUYEN

ANINVESTIGATION INTO THE NEEDS

FOR LEARNING ESP BY CONSTRUCTION DENTS AT HUE SCHOOL OF TRANSPORT

STU-MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY

OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING

CODE: 60.14.01.11

SUPERVISOR: Dr CAO LE THANH HAI

HUE, 2016

BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO

ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ

-NGUYỄN THỊ NGỌC HUYỀN

ĐIỀU TRA NHU CẦU HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CỦA SINH VIÊN XÂY DỰNG

Ở TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG GIAO THÔNG HUẾ

LUẬN VĂN THẠC SĨ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP

DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH

MÃ SỐ: 60.14.01.11

NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: TS CAO LÊ THANH HẢI

HUẾ, 2016

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY

This work has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university To the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.

Date: /6/2016 Signature

Nguyen Thi Ngoc Huyen

This study aimed to investigate the needs for learning ESP of Construction students at Hue School of Transport (HST) The study focused on: (i) exploring Construction students’ attitudes towards learning ESP at HST, their evaluation on the importance of ESP learning, the difficulties faced by students in learning EGP course in HST and their needs for ESP learning in order to apply for appropriate jobs in the future (ii) investigating and analyzing Construction students’ needs of ESP learning at HST in terms of their communication patterns, language skills and area, class activities, materials, topics in order to figure out students’ interest (iii) collecting English language lecturers’ opinions in order to help students satisfy their ESP learning needs, and (iv) providing suggestions for the building of a tenta- tive ESP course/textbook at HST.

The subjects for the study included 60 second-year students of Construction,

20 former Construction students who are working in domestic and foreign nies in Hue, 3 English lecturers and 3 Construction lecturers who are teaching at HST The data were collected through the means of questionnaires and interviews The findings showed that there was a pressing demand for learning ESP among Construction students at HST and a Needs Analysis was important to find out the techniques and strategies that give the lecturers a better idea about stu- dents’ needs The study also revealed important suggestions by students on various facets of language skills, language functions, and topics; and the information would

compa-be used as a fundamental framework for designing a future ESP course/textbook.

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

Above all, I wish to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor,Dr Cao Le Thanh Hai, who gave me invaluable suggestions, warm support and excelent insights during the writing process I am really thankful that she has spent a great deal of her valuable time meeting with me, and giving comments and feedback.

Second, I am so grateful to all the participants at HST whosewillingnessto take part in the study is indespensible in its completion

Third, I would like to express my sincere thanks to my headmaster,my Head of department and my colleagues who helped me in many ways so that I could have peace of mind for my study.

Last, I would like to show my deep gratitude to my ily, especially my husband, and my friends for their love, un- derstanding and support during the time I was busy working

fam-on this study.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Pages

SUB COVER PAGE i

STATEMENT OF ORIGINALITY iii

ABSTRACT iv

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF FIGURES ix

LIST OF TABLES x

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS xi

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Overview 1

1.2 Background of the study 1

1.3 Rationale 2

1.4 Significance of the Study 4

1.5 Research aims 4

1.6 Research questions 5

1.7 Research scope 5

1.8 Research design 5

1.8.1 Research setting and participants 5

1.8.2 Research instruments 5

1.9 Organization of the study 6

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW 7

2.1 Issues of EGP and ESP 7

2.1.1 Definition of EGP 7

2.1.2 Definition of ESP 7

2.1.3 The relationship between EGP and ESP 9

2.1.4 What is English for Construction? 11

2.2 Needs analysis 12

2.2.1 Definition of Needs 12

2.2.1.1 Target Needs 13

2.2.1.2 Learning needs 13

2.2.2 Definition of Needs Analysis 14

2.2.3 Methods of Needs Analysis 16

2.2.3.1 Questionnaires 16

2.2.3.2 Interviews 17

2.2.3.3 Case studies 17

2.2.3.4 Tests 18

2.2.3.5 Direct observation 18

2.2.3.6 Participatory analysis 19

2.3 Previous Studies Related to the research 20

2.4 Summary 24

CHAPTER III.METHODOLOGY 25

3.1 Introduction 25

3.2 Research Orientation and participants 25

3.2.1 Research Orientation 25

3.2.2 Participants 25

3.3 Instruments for Data Collections 26

3.3.1 Questionnaires 26

3.3.2 Interviews 27

3.4 Pilot 27

3.5 Data collection process 28

3.6 Summary 28

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 29

4.1 Overview 29

4.2 Findings 29

4.2.1 Students’ perceptions of the importance of learning English 29

4.2.2 Current Construction students’self-assessment ofthe English language skills 31

4.2.3 Students’ difficulties in learning English 32

4.2.4 Students’ and lecturers’ opinions about the necessity of an ESP course 34

4.2.5 The reasons for teaching and learning English for Construction at HST 36

4.2.6 The frequency of using English language skills at work of former Con-struction students at HST 38

4.2.7 The frequency of using ESP for former Construction students’ job 39

4.2.8 The important language skills for a tentative ESP course 39

4.2.9 Students’ suggestions for the topics that should be included in future ESP textbook for Construction 40

4.2.10 Learners’ preference for learning activities 45

4.2.11 What English language lecturers should do to help Construction students satisfy their ESP learning needs 46

4.3 Chapter Summary 48

CHAPTER V CONCLUSIONS 49

5.1 Overview 49

5.2 Research questions 49

5.3 Summary of the findings 49

5.4 Implications 51

5.4.1 For students of Construction 51

5.4.2 For lecturers 52

5.4.2.1 For English language lecturers 52

5.4.2.2 For Construction lecturers 53

5.4.3 For administrators at HST 53

5.5 Limitations 53

5.6 Further Researches 53

5.7 Summary 53

REFERENCES 54 APPENDICES

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 4.1 (a): Current Construction students’ perceptions of the importance of

learning English 29Figure 4.1 (b): Former Construction Students’ perceptions of the importance of

English to their current jobs 30Figure 4.2: Current Construction students’ assessment of the English language skills 31Figure 4.3 (a): Current Construction students’ difficulties in learning English 32Figure 4.3 (b): Former Construction students’ difficulties in learning English 33Figure 4.4 (a): Current Construction students’ opinions about the necessity of an

ESP course 34Figure 4.4 (b): Former Construction students’ opinions about the necessity of an

ESP course 35Figure 4.5 (a): Current Construction students’ reasons for learning English for Con-

struction 36Figure 4.5 (b): Former Construction students’ reasons for learning English for Con-

struction 36Figure 4.6: The frequency of using English language skills at work of the former

Construction students 38Figure 4.7: The frequency of using ESP for Former Construction Students’ job 39Figure 4.8: Current Construction students’ preference for learning activities 45

guage lecturers to help them satisfy their ESP learning needs 46

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

1 ESP : English for Specific Purposes

2 EGP : English for General Purposes

3 HST : Hue School of Transport

CHAPTER I INTRODUCTION

1.1 Overview

This chapter presents the background, the rationale and the significance of theresearch In addition, the research aims, research questions, research design of thestudy are also given Finally, the organization of the study will be presented

1.2 Background of the study

In the context of a globalized economy, joining in WTO in 2007 has createdmany opportunities and challenges for Vietnam As for the advantages, Vietnam’sproduction, business, trade, tourism and investment for socio-economic develop-ment have been achieving new milestones with the golden opportunities that arebrought to by this fact

Along with the chances, joining in WTO also creates many requirements andchallenges for Vietnam The economy of Vietnam is facing very harsh competitionfrom other economies In order to compete and co-operate with foreign partners, ourlabor forceneeds to be well-prepared not only in terms of qualification with profes-sional knowledge but also with foreign languages, especially English language

It is undeniable that English is the official language in a large number of tries English is used as the language of science aviation, computers, diplomacy,tourism and many other fields It is estimated that the number of people in the worldthat use English to communicate on a regular basis is 2 billion Knowing Englishcreates many opportunities for people in general and students in particular Betteryet, knowing English in specific fields of trades or occupations can bring peoplewith more benefits, and one of which is the chances to get good jobs in foreigncompanies

coun-As a part in the effort to prepare for the competitiveness of the workforce,English for Specific Purposes (ESP) have been taught in several education institu-tions across Vietnam However, it is not the case in Hue School of Transport

1.3 Rationale

Hue School of Transport (HST) is one of the vocational and professional ing schools of People Committee of Thua Thien Hue Province, situated on DienBien Phu Street in Hue HST was founded in 1990 with the initial task was to traindriving workers for Thua Thien Hue Province Today, HST has become a trainingcentre with multi-sectors, multi-levels, supplying the manpower for Thua ThienHue Province, Central Region and Tay Nguyen New facilities have been investedconstantly to ensure the basic requirements of both theory and practice, which helpsreach the training scale of nearly 30,000 primary students and 800 intermediate stu-dents peryear In the period of 2010 - 2014, HST has made efforts to expand and di-versify its training and training co-operations Car driving training activities are de-veloped in different districts of Hue city and the areas of Vietnam

train-Besides, HST also cooperated with Tra Vinh University, University of Scienceand Technology - The University of Danang in order to train intermediate studentswho are obtaining their Bachelor degrees inRoad and Bridge Construction, Mainte-nance and repair of car, Business Accounting, Industrial and Civil Construction,Civil and Industrial power, Finance - Bank, Communication and Network System,Technology of Mechatronics Engineering, Haulage Trading/Business This coopera-tion not only creates opportunities for intermediate students but also contributes tosatisfy the learning needs of the community

In general, most of the students at HST come from rural areas in Quang Binh,Quang Tri, and Thua Thien Hue where they did not have the opportunities to ap-proach advanced technologies, new knowledge, and modern teaching methods Asfor English, they usually were provided with only basic knowledge of grammar,reading comprehension, and writing They rarely had the chances to practice speak-ing and listening skills at secondary and high schools That is one of the reasonswhy they are lack of the knowledge necessary to conduct oral communication As aresult, when they become students in HST, they are inconfident with their ability tolearn English Consequently, they develop negative attitudes towards studying Eng-lish because they do not feel competent enough, especially with the learning of

speaking, listening and writing in English Although much effort has been made byteachers and students, the quality of learning English as a subject is still very low ingeneral.

Besides, HST is a vocational and professional training school whose trainingprograms cover a wide range of specific areas such as Road and Bridge Construc-tion, Maintenance and repair of car, Business Accounting, Industrial and Civil Con-struction, Civil and Industrial power, Finance - Banking, Communication and Net-work System, Technology of Mechatronics Engineering, Haulage Trading/Business

In order to be prepared for their future jobs, the students need not only general lish knowledge but also English for Specific Purposes However, at present, stu-dents at HST are taught general English only as a compulsory subject

Eng-As an effort to partly satisfy students’ needs, English language teachers in HSTusually get random lesson plans from different sources.These lesson plans, however, donot provide students with sufficient language skills and the language areas needed forcommunication at the work place.This derives from the fact that most teachers havenever participated in any ESP training program As a result, while students need profes-sional knowledge and communication skills, they have only been taught grammar andreading comprehension skills on simple topics Speaking and listening skills are usuallyignored This reality shows that there is a mismatch between what the students needand what they are taught at HST Chantrupanth (1993, p 9) offered deep insights into

“designing a short course” and argued that “the teaching material should be preparedspecifically to meet the needs of the students either for their academic purposes or theircareers.” In my opinion, English language teachers at HST should design a short ESPcourse to help satisfy students’ needs To do that, teachers should work closely withstudents in their learning process in order to discover their needs for ESP learning andprepare to design suitable ESP course

Construction is a very important sector in Vietnam economy It plays a vital role

in the development of the economy by providing job opportunities for the workforceapart from its contribution in the increase of Vietnam’s GDP To reap the benefitsfrom the development of this field, Construction studentsshould not onlyprepare

professional knowledge but also improve their communication skills and ESP in der to satisfy the requirements of their jobs in future.

or-Given the shortcomings of the current English language program at HST aswell as the potential benefits of ESP for students of Construction, the researcherwould like to investigate Construction students’ needs for learning English for Con-struction at Hue School of Transport (HST), and will propose some suggestions forthe building of an ESP course or textbook

1.4 Significance of the Study

Investigating the Construction students' needs of ESP learning at Hue School

of Transport is assured to be the first research at HST in this field As a teacher ofEnglish at HST for over 6 years, the researcher is fully aware of the demand forlearning ESP of Construction students and the benefits they will be able to obtain ifESP is to be taught at HST The researcher hopes that the findings of this study will

be implemented at HST so that the students of technical branches in general andConstruction students in particular will have the opportunities to learn adequateskills and ESP knowledge at HST

This study also helps the researcher discover the English language lecturers’opinions, wants as well as suggestions for an attentive ESP course/textbook forConstruction students

1.5 Research aims

This study aims at exploring Construction students’ attitudes of learning ESP

at HST, and how important they evaluate ESP learning Besides, the study also vestigates the difficulties that Construction students are facing in learning EGPcourse in HST and what they gain after finishing their EGP course and find out theirneeds for ESP learning in order to apply for appropriate jobs in the future

in-Additionally, the study also collects English language lecturers’ opinions inorder to help their students satisfy their ESP learning

It also aims to provide some suggestions for the building of a tentative ESPcourse or textbooks based on the opinions of both students and teachers

1.6 Research questions

The study seeks to answer the following questions:

1 What are the Constructions students' attitudes towards ESP learning atHue School of Transport?

2 What are some of the difficulties that students are facing while learningEGP at HST?

3 Is there a need for ESP learning among students?

4 What can be done to help satisfy their needs?

1.7 Research scope

Due to the constraint of time, the research only lookedat the needs for ESP aswell as issues relating to this from the perspective of second year students, formerstudents and some lecturers in English and Construction at HST

1.8 Research design

1.8.1 Research setting and participants

The study was conducted at Hue School of Transport (HST) in Hue city, inVietnam during the academic year 2015- 2016

The participants of this research consisted of 60 second-year students of struction who are attending classes at HST with the age from 19 to 38, 20 formerConstruction students from 22 to 43 years old who are working in Construction do-mestic and foreign companies in Hue, 3 English lecturers and 3 Construction lectur-ers who are teaching at HST

worn (2002),Schutz and Derwing (1981),Hyun Hyo Kim (2013),Sarjit Kaur andAlla Baksh Mohd Ayub Khan (2010),Al-Tamimi and Shuib (2008), Salehi (2011),Al-Fadly (2004), and Truong (2012).

For the interviews, the participants were asked to answer only open questions.The aim was to collect information that might not have been obtained by means ofquestionnaire This is also to ensure the validity and reliability of the collected data

1.9 Organization of the study

This paper is divided into five chapters:

Chapter 1: Introduction- presents the background, rationale,thesignificanceof

study, research aims, research scope, research questions, research design and the ganization of the study

or-Chapter 2: Literature Review - presents the theoretical framework, the issues

of ESP and EGP, issues of Needs Analysis, and previous studies related to the search as well as the gap to be filled by this study

re-Chapter 3: Research methods - describes the research approaches, subjects,

data collection and data analysis

Chapter 4: Findings and Discussions- presents the results of the

question-naires and the interviews as well as data analysis

Chapter 5: Conclusion - summarizes the findings and the implications of the

study

CHAPTER II LITERATURE REVIEW

2.1 Issues of EGP and ESP

2.1.1 Definition of EGP

According to Hutchinson& Waters (1987), the term EGP is generally presented

as “English For General Purposes” which refers to the contexts such as the schoolwhere needs can not readily be specified It is more usefully considered as providing abroad foundation rather than a detailed and selective specification of goals like ESP.The definition of EGP is an unhelpful polarization, particularly because themeaning of “general purposes” is typically left vague according to many scholars.Strevens (1998) used the term “English for educational purposes” (EEP) to explainwhy EGP was interpreted as a language subject within an overall school curriculum.The rationale for implementing EGP is based on the notion that school Englishshould be taught as background knowledge so that students have a liberal educationand possess the same ‘general knowledge' of the language even though a greatmany of them could not actually make use of it in a functional sense

Abbot (1981 in Jordan, 1997, p.4) defined EGP as “TENOR” -“the teaching ofEnglish for No Obvious Reason.” The title applies to those English language learningcontexts where learners have no easily recognizable reason to learn the language

theo-Duan and Gu (2004, p.1) also defined that “ESP is a pedagogy in which the

syllabus, contents and methods are determined according to the needs of learners’ specialized subjects”.

In the same line of thought, Robinson (1991) defined ESP on the basis of twofollowing criteria:

- ESP is normally “goal-oriented”

- ESP courses develop from a needs analysis which aims at specifying what exactly students have to do through the medium of English and from a number of characteristics which explain that ESP courses are generally constrained by a limited period of time in which their objectives have to be achieved and taught to adults in ho- mogenous classes in terms of the work or specialist studies.

Besides, Carter and Nunan (2001, p.129) claimed that defining feature of ESP

is that the teaching and materials are found on the results of needs analysis

Likewise, Paltridge and Starfield (2013, p.2) concurred that ESP refers to theteaching and learning of English as a second or foreign language where the goal ofthe learners is to use English in a particular domain The authors emphasized that theneeds of learning ESP are not only for general skills but also for job-related purposes.Meanwhile, Strevens (1988) examined the concept ESP with a more holisticapproach by making a distinction between its absolute and variable characteristics.According to Strevens, the absolute characteristics include:

- ESP is designed to meet specified needs of the learner

- ESP is related in content (i.e in its themes and topics) to particular plines, occupations and activities

disci ESP is centered on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics, etc., and analysis of this discourse

- ESP is in contrast with General English.

In terms of variable characteristics, he said that ESP may be, but isnotnecessarily:

- restricted as to the language skills to be learned (e.g reading only)

- not taught according to any pre-ordained methodology (p.1-2).

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998, p.4-5) presented a modified definition ofESP which is also comprised of absolute and variable characteristics of ESP that are

as follows:

Absolute characteristics:

- ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learner;

- ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the pline it serves;

disci ESP is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities.

Variable characteristics:

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

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

- ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level tution or in a professional work situation It could, however, be for learners at sec- ondary school level;

insti ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students;

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

As presented above, ESP can be defined in many different ways by differentscholars However, Dudley-Evans’s and St John’s definition is the most intelligi-ble In other words, its clarity and suitability make the researcher choose for thestudy The distinction between absolute characteristics and variable characteristicshelps the researcher clarify arguments about what is and is not ESP

2.1.3 The relationship between EGP and ESP

In the effort to distinguish EGP from ESP, Widdowson (1983) came up withtwo different set of features

According to the author, the most important features of EGP are:

-the education is often focused on;

- it is rather difficult to predict what the learners’ future needs are, so the course content is not easy to select;

- due to the above point it is important for the content in the syllabus to have a high surrender value.

The most appropriate features of ESP are:

-training is focused on;

- because English is intended to be used in specific professional contexts, it is

easier to select the appropriate content.

- the content in the syllabus is important in order to have a high surrender value, most appropriate to the professional context.

-the aim may be to create a restricted English competence.

It can be inferred that learners have different reasons for learning English whichconstitute the major differences between ESP and EGP

EGP learners can be children or adults and usually do not have any particularneed except to develop their language skills EGP teachers have the responsibility tohelp learners to receive the general language acquisition EGP helps students to copewith any subject-matter course It gives them the ability to generate more language.Students who learn EGP can use English to cope with the language in any undefinedtasks They can develop language skills equally with many different topics

ESP learners are usually adults, who are familiar with the English language andhave good language competence ESP learners are highly motivated because theirneeds are catered to serve their jobs at the moment or in the future The aim of ESPlearning/teaching is to develop the learners’ English language competences to enablethem to communicate effectively in their future professional environment and under-stand technical materials They learn the language in order to communicate profes-sional information and to perform some particular, job-related functions

In learning ESP, there are many language skills for learners to develop: ing, speaking, reading, writing, and so on It is necessary for them to analyze theneeds to determine which language skills are useful for them to accomplish certainprofessional tasks

listen-Chris Wright (1992) argued that ESP courses are centered on the context TheEnglish language is taught as a subject related to the learners’ real needs and wishes

in a particular field of human activity The English language is usable immediately inthe employment context The learners are highly motivated as they are aware of theirspecific purposes for learning English

Meanwhile, Potocar (2002) pointed out that ESP can be viewed as a specialand specific edition of EGP that incorporates practical linguistic skills to enable

students for the successful performance of professional tasks However, there is aclear difference in that EGP provides basic knowledge and skills of Englishlanguage at a school level where the occupational/professional and highereducational orientations of the students are not defined properly In contrast, themain goal of ESP is to equip the learners with necessary English language skills toface their practical situation communication challenges in their future careers AsHolme (1996 cited in Potocar, 2002) suggests,ESP should help students to acquirenecessary language skills to utilise their knowledge by combining work-relatedskills with personality development and socio- cultural knowledge.

In the same line of thought, Robinson (1991) contended that the specificity ofESP courses demands a teacher to adopt a different role and teaching strategy totransfer knowledge to his students First of all, he/she has to identify learners’ needsthat will, in fact, determine the method, material and the level of language teaching.Similarly, Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.53) asserted that “what distinguishesESP from General English is an awareness of the need”.Therefore, it can be con-cluded that an ESP practitioner is almost a teacher of General English unless heunderstands and focuses upon the special needs of his/her students (Robinson,1991).However, it is likely that specific linguistic knowledge and skills may berelevant and useful to more than one subject or profession (Holme, 1996) Forexample, skills required for communicative competence for different occupationsmay be similar (Potocar, 2002)

2.1.4 What is English for Construction?

According to the mannual “Building Construction Technology I”, 2012,

Con-struction is the object created by constructing works, connected to ground, performed

from building products with common installations and equipment, or integrated plex with facility or equipment as well as technical - technological units or solo in-

com-stallation connected to the ground (“Building Construction Technology I”, 2012).

English for Construction is a skill-based course designed specifically for the

students of Construction It provides the key academic skills that all students needduring daily working processes

Learning English for Construction is very necessary for civil engineers to pare their basic knowledge of ESP for their future careers

pre-2.2 Needs analysis

2.2.1 Definition of Needs

Before the issues of Needs Analysis (NA) are discussed in detail, it is useful tobriefly consider the definition of ‘needs’ because according to Robinson (1991),

“most specialists agree that this word can convey different meanings”

Widdowson (1981, p.2) stated that needs can refer to students’ study or job quirements; in other words, what they have to be able to do at the end of their lan-guage course

re-Needs in this sense perhaps can more appropriately be described as tives” (Berwick, 1989, p.57)

“objec-Mountford (1981) indicated that the term needs can mean what the tution or society at large regards as necessary or desirable to be learnt from a pro-gram of language instruction (p.27)

user-insti-Meanwhile, Richterich (1983) clearly classified needs into objective needs andsubjective needs and Brindley (1989) elaborated on this distinction to come up withmore specific definitions of objective needs In his opinion, objective needs can beunderstood as those "which are derivable from different kinds of factual informationabout learners, their use of language in real life communicative situations as well astheir current language proficiency and language difficulties" (p.70) The assessment

of objective needs depends on the information of students' background such ascountry, culture, education, family, profession, age and so on Besides, the needsanalyst should know their proficiency in different language skills, and their needs asfar as the language use outside the class is concerned

Needs are divided into two types: target needs and learning needs

2.2.1.1 Target Needs

Hutchinson & Waters (1987, p.54) defined target needs as “what the learner

needs to do in the target situation” The authors explain that “Target needs” consist

three types of needs: wants, lacks and necessities

-  Lack

Lacks are referred to as the gap between a required proficiency in the target

situation and the exiting proficiency of the learner Lacks is defined as “what the

students do not know or cannot do in English” Robinson (1991, p.8) Teachers

will be easy to design appropriate course in study process if they know the lacks

of their students

- Necessity

Necessities are described as what the learner has to know to function tively in the target situation Hutchinson & Waters (1987, p.55) described “neces-

effec-sity” that “the type of needs determined by the demands of the target situation, that

is, what the learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target tion”.

situa-Knowles (1982) uses other concepts to deal with three types of target Needs,they are felt needs, real needs and ascribed needs

2.2.1.2 Learning needs

Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.53-4) illustrated learning needs as what thelearner needs to do in order to learn The authors also considered the kind of neces-

sary information that the course designer obtain To effectively analyze the learningneeds, the authors determined to ask the following questions:

- Why are the learners taking the course?

- How do the learners learn?

- What resources are available?

- Who are the learners?

- Where will the ESP course take place?

- When will the ESP course take place?

2.2.2 Definition of Needs Analysis

In the field of language education, many scholars defined the concept of

‘Needs Analysis’ (NA) with different focuses and those definitions could be dividedinto two major groups The first one consists of definitions that consider learnersgeneral goals/objectives and the parameters of a language program as the focus Forinstance, Brown (1995) defined NA as “the activities involved in gathering informa-tion that will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum which meets the learn-ing needs of a particular group of students” (Brown, 1995) Likewise, Richards,Platt, and Platt (1992, p.242-243) stated that NA is "the process of determining theneeds for which a learner or a group of learners acquires a language and arrangesthe needs according to priorities” In the same line of thought, John (1991) assumedthat NA is the first step in the course design, and it provides validity and relevancyfor all subsequent course design activities

Consistent with this view, Richards and Rogers (1986, p.156) pointed out that

NA is the identification of general and specific language needs that could be dressed in developing goals, objectives, and content in a language program It mightfocus either on the general parameters of a language program or on the specificneeds In general, these definition simply that information about learners will begathered so that researchers/curriculum designers know the reason for which thelanguage is supposed to be used in a specific situation with certain people to an ac-ceptable level of proficiency

ad-The second group of definitions consists of the ones that focus more on fying difficulties encountered by learners in an effort to bring about changes or im-provement in students’ language performance Basturkmen (1998, p.1), for exam-ple, defined NA as “the identification of difficulties and standard situations by theobservation of participants functioning in a target situation in conjunction with in-terviews and questionnaires” In this definition, the author focuses on the difficultiesthat the learners face in the ESP situation and tries to collect information on thoseproblems using questionnaires and interviews alongside with observation.

identi-Likewise, Basturkmen (1998, p.1) suggested that needs analysis is most oftenused where learners in selected situations face similar difficulties It is also used toclarify the important elements and to identify the "indispensable necessary" thingsfor learners in any course or any specialization they choose In the aforementioneddefinition, Basturkmen (1998) said that NA is viewed as “a process of learningabout the present situation of the students in the college rather than an object of in-vestigation It is a process of refining and redefining procedures and concepts”.Gupta (2007) developed this concept further by focusing on identifying andclosing the gaps generated in the learning process He asserted that NA is a processfor figuring out how to close a learning or performance gap It involves determiningthe important needs and how to address them The process includes comparing thecurrent condition to the desired condition, defining the problem or problems, under-standing the behaviors and mechanisms that contribute to the current condition, de-termining if and how specific behaviors and mechanisms can be changed to producethe desired condition, developing solution strategies, and building support for ac-tion

Need Analysis in this study is focused on Need Analysis as proposed byHutchinson and Waters (1987):

a who the learners are; age, gender, etc

b their social-culture background,

c learning background,

d background knowledge of specialized contents,

e background knowledge of English,

f attitudes towards English,

g teaching and learning styles with which they are familiar;

h appropriate or ineffective teaching and learning methods,

i suitable instructional materials and study locations,

j expectations about what learners should achieve in the course and how essary the courses are for the learners (p.54)

nec-2.2.3 Methods of Needs Analysis

There are many data collection methods for conducting a NA

Hutchinson and Waters (1987) suggested that the methods for gathering datacan include: questionnaires, interviews, observations, data collection According tothis author the choice of method depends on the time and resources available andthe procedures of each depending on accessibility

Robinson (1991) suggested a more diverse list of methods for conducting a

NA which consists of:

- Questionnaires

- Interviews

- Case studies

- Tests

- Authentic data collection

Likely, Jordan (1997) pointed out more the methods of conducting a NA such

as language tests at home, self-assessment, class progress tests, direct monitoring,structured interviews, learner diaries, previous research comparisons, and follow upinvestigations However, questionnaires, interviews and case studies are the mostwidely used

2.2.3.1 Questionnaires

The main data collection method for conducting a needs analysis in the study

is questionnaires Jordan (1997) indicated that the use of questionnaires enablesthe researcher to collect data from a large number of subjects in a short period of

time He pointed out that questionnaires are easy for the researchers to analyze.Besides, they save time and do not require much effort from the researcher as it isthe case of interviews and tests However, the using of questionnaires for conduct-ing NA also makes the difficulty in misinterpret the questions of the informants.Therefore, the distribution the questionnaires to the informants to fill them outmust be explained clearly.

2.2.3.2 Interviews

Another method used to investigate a language needs is the interview Thismethod can be structured or unstructured:

- Structured interviews: used widely in conducting NA The formulation and

design of structured interviews are similar to those of the questionnaire Besides, theobjectives are the same as for the questionnaire Structured interviews often rely onquestionnaires or interview schedules with mostly closed-ended questions that allowthe respondents only a limited range of possible answers According to Mackay(1978), structured interview is similar in format construction and purpose to a ques-tionnaire Besides, Mackay (1978, p.22) showed that there are many advantages inusing the structured interviews:

+ The questions are not left unanswered as it may happen when filling out aquestionnaire

+ The interviewer can explain, clarify and also direct the questions relievingany ambiguity or impreciseness, perhaps any misunderstanding which may appear

in the interpretation of the questions

- Unstructured interviews: the interviewer comes with questions that might

be changed during the interview based on the responses of respondents

2.2.3.3 Case studies

Another method used in conducting NA is case studies This method is used incollecting data to investigate a single learner or a group of learners’ communicationneeds

Schmidt (1981) contended that “case studies are of great importance in thatthey give the chance to invoke to the students’ understanding about his/ her difficul-ties, needs, and want in a clear and detailed than in interviews or questionnaires”.

He used the case study procedure on a single student "Yvonne, a non-native speaker

of English studying business administration in an American University" He fied the use of case study basing his argument on the experiment made withYvonne:

justi-The case study is a unique tool for the curriculum developer in assessing the language needs of a non-native speaker in a particular setting The advantages of this method over the others are the possibility of one in-depth study over a period of time, the opportunity to appeal to the student's intuitions about his or her difficulties and needs in more detail than in the oral interview or questionnaire, and the occa- sion for the curriculum developer to do direct observation of the student in the classroom and study situation to gain insight into the student's own methods of learning (p.200-201).

Although there are many advantages in using case studies in investigating theneeds, this method is time-consuming and its results cannot be generalized

2.2.3.4 Tests

The next method used to collect the data is tests This method is used for suring a person’s ability, knowledge, or performance in a given domain Tests areused for testing the learners before starting their courses in order to know their abili-ties and find out their strengths and weaknesses

mea-According to Saunders (1984), tests should be reliable and validated; wise, they will lead to serious problems

other-2.2.3.5 Direct observation

Another procedure used in investigating a language needs is direct tion The method is widely used and particularly useful for collecting data and sam-ples of written and spoken interaction with different sources, namely the studentsand the learner's institution, especially the place of work The reliability and accu-

observa-racy of all the information for the direct observation is always ensured.

2.2.3.6 Participatory analysis

Robinson (1991, p.14) pointed out that the participatory analysis involves cussion, negotiation, reconciliation with other students who are involved in the dis-cussion of their needs and wants

dis-Students are more actively than in simply completing a questionnaire; they cantake part in a discussion on their needs and make their own recommendations

With regard to the main points that have been previously mentioned, the datacollection methods used for conducting needs analysis is numerous

Jordan (1997) indicated that there is no single method to conduct needs sis

analy-In this study, I chose questionnaires and interviews methods intead of theother mentioned approaches The main reasonswere the lack of time and the context

in which the research was conducted At the same time, there are disadvantages inusing other methods, which should be taken into consideration For case studies, themain disadvantage isits nature as longitudinal;andin order to use it, the researchermust delve into the students’ understanding about his/ her difficulties, needs andwant in very specific situations Besides, the results collected from this methodcould not be generalized as in the case of questionnaires and interviews The secondmethod which the researcher did not choose is test In the context of Vietnam and atHST where students study English as a compulsory subject, the pressure to pass ex-ams in order to graduate leads to a lot of ‘foul play’ among students, and cheating is

a very common practice As a result, test is not always the best instrument for NA inthe context because of its little value Observation was also opted out beause of thenature of this research This research aims at figuring out learners’ general goals/ob-jectives and the parameters of a language program as the focus, not delving into thedifficulties they they are facing/experiencing (although it does take this into consid-eration) Thus, observation seemed to be of little help Finally, the researcher didnot use participatory analysis because this method requires the discussion from the

students’ needs, wants and suggestions This takes a lot of time, which the searcher is lack of.

re-In conclusion, every researcher has different circumstances that influence thechoice of method in conducting his/her investigation It is up to the researcher tochoose the method that best serves his/her goals and circumstances

2.3 Previous Studies Related to the research

Many NA studies have been conducted in different countries of the world.BelachewZerihun (2008) investigated English language needs of Constructiontrainees in Entoto Technical vocational education and training (TVET) College.Based on the study, it has been recommended that syllabus designers need to design

an appropriate English syllabus and learning materials for construction TVET

trainees taking into account the trainees’needs of English for study and occupational

purposes, their difficulties, their learning style preferences and wants and their cational background

edu-Kittidhaworn (2002) investigated the English language needs of 182 secondyear Thai undergraduate engineering students in a Public University in Thailand Heindicated in his study that the majority of Thai engineering students have equal per-ceived English language needs in all four major areas, with all rated as moderatelyimportant or very important to learn in their program in engineering The findingsalso revealed that perceived English language needs did not vary widely by demo-graphic variables

In Italy, Lombardo (1988) conducted a NA study in the School of Economics

in Italy to investigate students’ perceived needs and attitudes about learning English

as a second language The findings revealed that students were motivated to learnEnglish in order have a better chance to get a job Besides, Technical terminologywas the major problem in reading Understanding oral reports and participating inmeeting were the most activities needed to succeed in their field As regards to theimportance of the four language skills, listening skills were the most important fol-lowed by speaking, reading, and writing

Schutz and Derwing (1981) conducted a survey of English language needsamong educated Taiwanese who worked or studied in the areas of science, engineer-ing and technology Over half of the subjects reported that English is useful for theirstudies and professions and thought English was the best international language forgeneral use Speaking was rated least important of the English language skills interms of needs They did however rank English speaking first in the case of wants, sothere was a conflict between objective needs and personal wants.

Yasin’s study (2010) was to investigate the English proficiency of Civil neering students of a Malaysian polytechnic A questionnaire, modeled after theProgram for International Student Assessment approach and The Secretary’s Com-mission on Achieving Necessary Skills report was developed and administered to

Engi-171 Civil engineering students The post-industrial training survey, through the use

of a self-report questionnaire, provided an important opportunity to capture crucialdata from students regarding their English language skills The findings of thisstudy revealed that the students’ frequency or ability of using the English languagewas low, irrespective of the type of workplace or level of study Analyses of skilldeficiencies revealed wide learning gaps between the acquired and required Englishskill attributes

Hyun Hyo Kim (2013) investigated the needs for English for Specific Purposecourse Development for Engineering students in Korea She identified the needs forEnglish for engineering students in Korea from multiple sources of students group,engineering professors group, and industry workers group NA reveals what stu-dents, engineering professors, and industry workers think and require Properly un-derstanding their needs is essential in designing ESP course

SarjitKaur and Alla Baksh Mohd Ayub Khan (2010) investigated LanguageNeeds of Art and Design Students, towards the considerations for ESP Course De-sign The authors investigated the needs of a new ESP course and it should focus onspeaking and listening skills The ESP course should include workplace-based oralpresentations, specialized vocabulary activities and course materials and topicsrelevant to students’ area of specializations Language teaching strategies such as

games, puzzles and riddles could also help improve the ESP students’ proficiency inthe English language.

Another study was carried out by Al-Tamimi and Shuib (2008) who gated the English language needs of Petroleum Engineering students at HadramountUniversity of science and technology in Thailand In specific terms, they have iden-tified the students’ needs and perceptions of English language skills by means ofquestionnaire survey and conclude that the current course is not appropriate for thescience and technology students They suggest some recommendations according tothe needs of students and redevelopment of ESP curriculum offered to the Petro-leum engineering students at HUST

investi-Likewise, Salehi (2011) investigated the English language needs of ing students to evaluate their English language needs and to explore the possibility

engineer-of writing a textbook based on the insights gained from the study He administeredquestionnaire to 225 students at Sharif University of Technology when they tooktheir final exams The findings revealed that these students need to develop writingand speaking He suggested that these two skills should be given a high priority inthe in the curriculum

A NA study was performed by Pritchard and Nasr (2004) in an Egyptian lege of Technology to develop materials to help improve third-level engineeringstudents' reading performance As a first step in the project, a NA investigation wascarried out to find what the undergraduates and their teachers might perceive as ma-jor required reading skills This list of skills was then used as the basis for develop-ing a reading improvement program To evaluate the effectiveness of the program,

Col-it was tested wCol-ith a group of 66 students Results of the experimental study revealedthat the program helped improve the subjects' performance in reading Regardingthe ESP teachers' role in the engineering department, the findings emphasized thatinstead of being the primary information providers, ESP teachers should assimilatesubject concepts from learners and negotiate meaning with them

Needs analysis studies have investigated the perception of the language needs of

different parties and have often revealed differing perceptions Ferris (1998) gated the differing perceptions of students and faculty of students’ academic aural /oral needs for university study in a number of colleges in the United States.

investi-Truong (2012) investigated the needs of learning English for dynamics dents and the difficulties that ESP teachers and students are facing The data werecollected by means of questionnaires, in- depth interviews and class observation.The findings showed that a large number of students were still weak at languageskills due to their lack of professional terms and English background knowledge Inaddition, most students, teachers and workers were aware of the significance of de-signing an ESP material for students of Dynamics in accordance with the students’needs, learning situations and levels The result from the study also revealed that theESP teachers should not only teach, s/he involves in the process of course design,material writing and adaptation

stu-With the above previous studies, it is clear that the majority of them were ducted to investigate English language needs of ESP students all over the world.The needs of ESP learning in above studies was clearly mentioned in manybranches of knowledge such as English language needs for Construction, tourismand banking, economics, science, engineering and technology, Art and Design,Petroluem Engineering, Medical, dynamics

con-Additionally, all the previous studies, which were conducted within the work of needs analysis, emphasized the significance of assessing the learners’ needs

frame-to ESP Although these studies were different in their focus and carried out in a ferent setting, they followed the same procedure in collecting information about thelearner’s English language needs It is essential to realize that no current study hasfocused on ESP learning needs for the students who have only learned EGP atschool and never known what ESP is Therefore, the main purpose of my study is toget the insight of the students towards investigating their ESP needs for Construc-tion in HST and gradually preparing an appropriate ESP textbook suitable for theirneeds

dif-2.4 Summary

In this chapter, the researcher mentioned issues of EGP and ESP, theories ofneeds analysis, the previous studies related to the research The needs analysis isvery important for the studies For my study, an analysis of the students’ specificneeds may help me to solve some of the problems so that my students will belearned the ESP courses ESP needs analysis will perhaps contribute greatly to thedevelopment of Construction Students’ English proficiency in skills and make

“launch base” for their future careers

In the next chapter the methods used to collect the data on students’ needs forConstruction students at HST will be presented

CHAPTER III METHODOLOGY

3.1 Introduction

This chapter covers the description of the research orientation, the participants

of the study, the instrument for data collection and the procedures for conductingthe study

3.2 Research Orientation and participants

3.2.1 Research Orientation

According to Johnson and Onwuegbuzie (2004), mixed methods research isformally defined here as the class of research where the researcher mixes or com-bines quantitative and qualitative research techniques, methods, approaches, con-cepts or language into a single study Condelli and Wrigley (1999, p.1) suggeststhat“the best research design is a mixed method design that integrates qualitative andquantitative research.” As a result, the researcher combinedboth qualitative and quan-titative approaches for this research through the means of questionnaires and inter-views because they provide reliable and valid results

3.2.2 Participants

The study was conducted on both students and lecturers at Hue School ofTransport (HST)in Hue city, in Vietnam, during the academic year 2015- 2016.The participants of this research consisted of 60 second-year students of Con-struction who are attending classes at HST, 20 former Construction students whoare working in Construction domestic and foreign companies in Hue, 3 English lan-guage lecturers and 3 Construction lecturers who are teaching at HST

These participants were divided into 4 groups:

- Group 1consisted of 60 second-year students of Construction who are tending classes at HST

at Group 2 consisted of 20 former Construction students who are chosen toexplore their needs in learning English for Construction They are working in do-mestic and foreign construction companies in Hue.

- Group 3 consisted of 3 English language lecturers, who are teaching atHST They are interviewed to collect their opinions and suggestions on teachingEnglish for Construction

- Group 4 consisted of 3 Construction lecturers who are teaching at HST

3.3 Instruments for Data Collections

Two data gathering instruments were used for the research which includedquestionnaires and interviews

3.3.1 Questionnaires

Questionnaires are often used as the primary data collection method because

of the numerous advantages it has Questionnaires enable the researcher to collectdata from a large number of subjects in a short period of time Besides, the re-searchers are not difficult to analyze the questionnaires Questionnaires also savetime for the researchers and do not demand much effort from the researchers as it isthe case of other data collection methods Also, Kavaliauskiene and Uzpaline, 2003,

p 3 pointed out the questionnaires are considered "the least consuming" ways ofcollecting data

In this study, the participants were asked to answer mainly closed questionsrequiring answers on a modified scale from strongly disagree to strongly agree with

no option for an indecisive answer The participants are easy to answer the closedquestions However, the closed questions are often known in constraining the partic-ipants to a limited extent anticipated by the research Moreover, some questions inthe questionnaires are sometimes unnecessary and irrelevant As a result, they couldcompletely miss the concerns of the participants Therefore, in order to ensure thatthe questionnaires would be conducted as planned, they were supposed to be anony-mous so that people could be more honest and informative in their responses

The questionnaire was administered to 60 students of Construction and 20 former

Construction students All the questionnaires were properly filled and returned.

3.3.2 Interviews

According to Bell (1993, p.101), “the advantage of a focus interview is that anoutline is established beforehand and so analysis is greatly simplified.” Because ofits importance, the researcher must design the questions carefully before meetingthe interviewees Wallace (1998) claims that interviews have the great strength be-cause of its flexibility and a wide range of data Relating to the advantages of inter-views, Newman (2000) states that face-to-face interviews have the highest responserates and permit the longest questionnaires

A structured interview was conducted with 3 English language lecturers whoare teaching EGP for the students in HST An interview was also conducted with atotal number of 3 Construction lecturers The main purpose of the interview was tostrengthen the data gathered through the questionnaire and to further investigateConstruction students’ ESP learning needs Thus, the content of the interview wassimilar to that of the questionnaires except some areas that were more relevant tothe teachers

3.4 Pilot

The researcher conducted a pilot study in order to refine the instrument of thisresearch before administering the questionnaires to wider sample The main purpose

of this piloting was to explore the degree of difficulty of the questionnaire and also

to make sure that the items included in it were relevant to the research objectives

In the pilot study, 5 Construction students from each of the two student groupswere chosen randomly to participate Based on the findings, some items were re-moved from the original questionnaires and modifications were added to make surethe data collected would be valid and reliable

There were two questionnaires - Questionnaire A including 12 questions forConstruction students and questionnaire B with 13 questions for former ones Thequestions were chosen in a direction to deal with 4 clusters: (i) their personal profile(ii) how they evaluate their EGP learning and (iii) what they think about the learn-

ing of ESP and (iv) their suggestions for a tentative ESP course/textbook and whatteachers can do to help satisfy their needs.

3.5 Data collection process

60 copies of questionnaire A were distributed to the randomly chosen ond - year Construction students who were learning at HST

sec-20 copies of questionnaire B were delivered to former Construction studentswho were working at domestic and foreign Construction companies in Hue

3 English language lecturers and 3 Construction lecturers at HST were viewed

inter-After being collected and classified, the data was analyzed, put into percentageand presented in tables and charts

In brief, the procedures of the research included the following steps:

- Collecting and studying previous works related to the research paper

- Designing questionnaires and questions for interviews

- Collecting data from questionnaires and interviews with Construction students,former Construction students, English language lecturers and Construction lecturers

- Classifying the data into intended groups

- Doing statistical calculation

- Describing the collected data presented in tables and charts

- Generalizing and giving comments and evaluations

- Making some suggestions to practical teaching

3.6 Summary

In this chapter, the methodology and procedures of doing this research werepresented in details The following chapter will be for data presentation and analy-sis

CHAPTER IV FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS