Đánh giá chương trình học tiếng anh chuyên ngành theo mô hình kết hợp trực tiếp trực tuyến dành cho sinh viên năm thứ hai chuyên ngành hóa học tại một trường đại học

I hereby declare that the minor thesis submitted today entitled: “Evaluating an ESP blended learning program for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi” is t

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở HÀ NỘI

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: ELT Methodology

Code: 8140231.01

HANOI – 2019

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở HÀ NỘI

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: ELT Methodology

Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Trần Thị Thu Hiền, Ph.D

HANOI – 2019

I hereby declare that the minor thesis submitted today entitled:

“Evaluating an ESP blended learning program for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi” is the result of my own work,

except where reference is made in the text of the thesis The work contained in thisthesis has not been previously submitted for a higher degree in any other educationinstitution

Dao Thi Hoa

September, 2019

During the period of completing the Master thesis, I have received the support of agreat number of people

First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor,

Ms Tran Thi Thu Hien, Ph.D for her patient guidance, detailed suggestions,excellent support, great encouragement and constructive supervision during theresearch project

I also wish to express my great thanks to all the professors and lecturers at theUniversity of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University,for their insightful lectures, their invaluable assistance, and guidance duringlearning the Master program

I am indebted to the university where I work, my colleagues, and my students whoparticipated in this study For ethical reasons, I cannot mention their names here, yet

I wish to warmly thank them for their interest and support for my study Withouttheir participation, this study would not have come into being

Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my family and my friends fortheir long-term support and encouragement from the beginning to the end of theresearch process My parents, my husband, and my daughter have happily shared allthe ups and downs of my research journey I could not have sustained andcompleted this difficult journey without their support and unconditional love

Dao Thi Hoa

The continual growth of technology enhances the development of English teachingand learning, especially ESP blended learning programs in higher education, whichcan improve the communicative environments for Vietnamese students However,the effectiveness of this program is not clearly recognized This paper aims atevaluating the effectiveness of an ESP blended learning program for second-yearstudents majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi, finding the difficultieswhich teachers and students have to encounter during teaching and learning thisprogram Based on which some recommendations were suggested to design a betterlearning and teaching program

This paper is a survey research project identifying learner evaluation towards theeffectiveness of an ESP blended learning program as well as teacher evaluation ofthe program through their learning and teaching experience The author conducted asurvey questionnaire at Chemistry department of a university in Hanoi with 55student respondents Also, the researcher interviewed 5 English teachers who are incharge of teaching English for these students The results revealed that the students’perceptions and attitudes towards the effectiveness of blended learning programwere positive in terms of the four domains in the questionnaire: (i) online learningparts, (ii) face-to-face lessons, (iii) online and face-to-face integration, and (iv)learners’ outcomes However, regarding implementing ESP blended learning for thesecond-year students in the Chemistry department, some negations are openlyacknowledged In addition, possible suggestions are proposed for enhancing theeffectiveness of such program

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF FIGURES vi

LIST OF TABLES viii

CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Rationale for the study 1

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study 2

1.3 Research questions 2

1.3 Methods of the study 3

1.4 Scope of the study 3

1.5 Significance of the study 3

1.6 Structure of the thesis 3

Chapter 2- LITERATURE REVIEW 5

2.1 English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 5

2.1.1 Definition of ESP 5

2.1.2 Characteristics of ESP 6

2.1.3 Types of ESP 7

2.1.4 English for General Purposes (EGP) versus English for Specific Purposes (ESP)8 2.2 Blended learning 9

2.2.1 Definition of blended learning 9

2.2.2 Benefits of blended learning 10

2.2.3 Requirements of implementing blended learning 11

2.3 Program evaluation 12

2.3.1 Definition of program evaluation 12

2.3.2 Blended learning evaluation 13

2.3.3 Purposes of program evaluation 15

2.3.4 Program evaluators 16

2.4 Previous studies related to the thesis 17

2.5 Chapter summary 20

CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY 21

3.1 The participants 21

3.1.1 Students 21

3.1.2 Teachers 21

3.2 Research setting 21

3.3 Research questions 23

3.4 Research methods 23

3.5 Data collection instruments 25

3.5.1 Questionnaire 25

3.5.2 Interview 27

3.6 Data collection procedure 27

3.6.1 Questionnaire 27

3.6.2 Interview 28

3.7 Data analysis procedure 29

3.7.1 Analysis of the survey questionnaire 29

3.7.2 Analysis of the interview 29

3.8 Chapter summary 30

CHAPTER 4- DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 31

4.1 The effectiveness of the ESP blended learning program 31

4.1.1 Online learning parts 31

4.1.1.1 Students’ evaluation on online learning parts 31

4.1.1.3 Teachers’ evaluation on online learning parts 32

4.1.2 Face-to-face lessons 34

4.1.2.1 Students’ evaluation on face-to-face lessons 34

4.1.2.2 Teachers’ evaluation on face-to-face lessons 36

4.1.3 The integration between online learning and face-to-face lessons 37

4.1.3.1 Students’ evaluation on the integration between online learning and face-to-face lessons 37

4.1.3.2 Teachers’ evaluation on the integration between online learning and

face-to-face lessons 38

4.1.4 Students’ outcomes 40

4.1.4.1 Students’ evaluation on their outcomes 40

4.1.4.2 Teachers’ evaluation on students’ outcomes 41

4.1.5 Learners’ expectation 42

4.2 Students and teachers’ difficulties encountered during the programs 43

4.2.1 Students’ difficulties 43

4.2.2 Teachers’ difficulties 44

4.3 Suggestions and implications 45

4.3.1 The teachers and students’ suggestions to improve the ESP blended learning program 45

4.3.1.1 Learners’ suggestions 45

4.3.1.2 Teacher’s suggestions 46

4.3.2 Implications for a better ESP blended learning program 47

4.3.2.1 Implications for students 48

4.3.2.2 Implications for teachers 48

4.3.2.3 Implications for university authorities 50

4.4 Discussion 51

4.5 Chapter summary 53

CHAPTER 5- CONCLUSION 54

5.1 Recapitulation 54

5.2 Limitations and suggestions for further studies 56

5.2.1 Limitations 56

5.2.2 Suggestions for further studies 57

REFERENCES 58 APPENDICES I Appendix A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS I Appendix B: TEACHERS’ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS V

LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 2.1: Four puzzle pieces of evaluation (Pombo and Moreira, 2011) 14Figure 4.1: Students’ evaluation of online learning parts 31Figure 4.2: Students’ evaluation on face-to-face lessons 34Figure 4.3: Students’ evaluation on the integration between online and face-to-face 37Figure 4.4: Students’ evaluation on their outcomes 40Figure 4.5: Learners’ expectation of the ESP blended learning course 42

LIST OF TABLES

Table 2.1: ESP characteristics Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) 6Table 2.2: Types of ESP, Dudley-Evans, T & John, M.J (1998 pp.34-73) 7

CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION

1.1 Rationale for the study

It is undeniable that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs)nowadays plays a crucial role in human being’s life in general and education inparticular The increased integration of ICTs in teaching and learning has becomemore familiar with higher education in Vietnam and led to a deeper interest inenhanced interactions between students and their teachers, peers and learningmaterials As a result, blended learning, defined as “the organic integration ofthoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches andtechnologies.” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008), has been becoming a popular method

in higher education because it not only helps improve teaching methodologies butalso changes students’ ways of learning However, the main issues here are to whatextent blended learning is effective

“Blended learning is typically more complicated and multifaceted than either fullyonline or face-to-face learning….” (Bonk, Kim, and Zheng, 2004) The application

of the blended learning program enables students to learn a wide variety ofknowledge and then apply them into inside English class activities In particular, thecombination of online learning and face-to-face class environment gives chances forteachers to provide students with rich language input and opportunities for students

to learn online and focus on facilitating students’ interactive and collaborativelearning in face-to-face classes For example, students learning online at home willhave material for their face-to-face classes and then have more time to apply thesematerials into improving speaking Therefore, the combination of online and face-to-face learning creates opportunities for students to develop their Englishknowledge and skills as well

Blended learning program provides an ideal environment for language education, so

it becomes more familiar with higher education in Vietnam The university wherethe study is conducted is one of the first universities applying blended learning inteaching English The implementation of blended learning is expected to enableteachers to improve their teaching methodology to facilitate students’ development

of English ability for social and professional communication, as well as theirlifelong learning skills To achieve these purposes, teachers teaching in blendedlearning courses are required to understand blended learning, take part in designingcurriculums and material processes Although the university has applied blendedlearning in teaching English there since 2015, there has not been any research intoevaluate the effectiveness of this teaching program It is necessary to discover theanswer to this matter Basing on the results, recommendations can be proposed toimprove the quality of this program at the university A deep understanding of theeffectiveness of blended learning environment will provide the opportunity toimprove students’ English as well as teachers’ teaching methods in implementation

of blended learning in English language teaching at the university

1.2 Aims and objectives of the study

The study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of an ESP blended learning programfor second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a University in Hanoi Itsinterrelated objectives are:

- To investigate the effectiveness of the ESP blended learning program for second year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi from the students and teachers’ perspectives;

- To find out difficulties encountered by teachers and students during their teaching and learning time in this ESP blended learning program.

1.3 Research questions

The study was carried out to obtain information for answering the followingresearch questions:

1 How effective is the ESP blended learning program for second-year students

in Chemistry Department from the teachers and students’ perspectives?

2 What are difficulties encountered by teachers and students during their teaching and learning time in this ESP blended learning program?

1.3. Methods of the study

To serve its purpose, this study has been conducted as survey research usingquestionnaires and interviews to collect data Fifty-five second-year students, whoare either taking or have just completed the ESP blended learning course haveparticipated in filling the questionnaire Five teachers teaching the ESP blendedlearning program have been interviewed

The data obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively andqualitatively to identify the common patterns of responses regarding theeffectiveness of such program The answers from the interviews were analyzed toidentify the teachers’ evaluation of the program and their suggestions for improvingthis program

1.4 Scope of the study

The study is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of ESP blended learning forsecond-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi from theperspectives of teachers and students experiencing this program All other studiesaim at evaluating other programs for other types of students are out of the scope ofthe study

1.5 Significance of the study

In theory, this study will contribute to blended learning program to some extent.The evaluation of the program will show its effectiveness and propose somepossible suggestions to improve such program Therefore, the result of the study isthe material for teachers teaching ESP blended learning at this university inparticular and for teachers and students attending ESP blended learning in general

to implement a successful ESP blended learning program in the future

1.6. Structure of the thesis

Chapter 1: Introduction presents the rationale, objectives, research questions,

methodology, scope, significance, and structure of the thesis

Chapter 2: Literature review has three main parts The first part provides some

theoretical background about the definition of ESP, types and characteristics ofESP, the differences between EGP and ESP The second part is about the definition,characteristics of blended learning and requirements in implementing blendedlearning program The last part focuses on program evaluation including definition

of program evaluation, the purposes of program evaluation, and program evaluators,the evaluation of blended learning, and the evaluation of an ESP course Last butnot least, a brief summary of some existing relevant studies is also presented in thischapter

Chapter 3: Methodology works with the introduction of research methods

including research questions, data collection instruments, data collection procedure

Chapter 4: Findings and discussion chapter shows the procedure of carrying out

the research and presents the data analysis, which results from analyzingquestionnaire and interview

Chapter 5: Conclusion followed by references is the last chapter which is the

summary of the whole study The limitations of the study and suggestions forfurther study are also mentioned on the last pages of the paper

Chapter 2- LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter offers a review ESP and blended learning program and the literaturerelated to program evaluation In each section, the definition, is presented togetherwith some related features of each term Besides, the previous studies are alsomentioned in the last part of this chapter

2.1 English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

2.1.1 Definition of ESP

The term ESP has quite a lot of definitions from various authors

ESP focuses on the specific needs of the learners and includes the skills andcompetencies of language usage in different contexts

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), it is “not the existence of a need, butrather an awareness of the need” that sets ESP apart from General English

The other approach of ESP is to focus on restricted language repertoire, teachingterms, and specific discourse (Huckin, 2003; Hyland, 2003)

ESP is also defined as “the role of English in a language course or programme ofinstruction in which the content and aims of the course are fixed by the specificneeds of a particular group of learners” (Richards and Schmidt, 2010, p 198).According to Brown (2016, p.5), ESP is fundamentally linked to “the specific needs

of a particular group of learners,” or “put another way, if there is no needs analysis,there is no ESP.”

Widdowson (1983, p.5) defined “ESP is essentially a training operation which seeks

to provide learners with a restricted competence to enable them to cope with certainclearly defined tasks These tasks constitute the specific purposes which the ESPcourse is designed to meet.”

As definitions are mentioned above, ESP courses should have the distinctivefeatures from General English course of skills, themes, situations, functionslanguage and methodology.

The use of authentic content materials, modified or unmodified in form, are indeed

a feature of ESP, particularly in self-directed study and research tasks related orientation refers to the simulation of communicative tasks required of thetarget setting Finally, self-direction is characteristic of ESP courses in that the " point of including self-direction is that ESP is concerned with turning learnersinto users" (Carter, 1983, p 134) In order for self-direction to occur, the learnersmust have a certain degree of freedom to decide when, what, and how they willstudy Carter (1983) also adds that there must be a systematic attempt by teachers toteach the learners how to learn by teaching them about learning strategies

Purpose-Also, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) listed out absolute and variablecharacteristics that reflect specific characteristics of ESP courses

Table 2.1: ESP characteristics (Dudley-Evans and St John 1998)

Absolute characteristics Variable characteristics

specific needs of the learner;

underlying methodology and

activities of the disciplines it

serves;

1 ESP may be related to, or designed for specific disciplines;

a different methodology from that of General English;

3 ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at tertiary level institution or in a

language (grammar, lexis), skills,

and discourse appropriate to

these activities

professional work situation;

or advanced students;

some basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used for beginners.

Additionally, Dudley-Evans' (1997) claimed that ESP should be offered at anintermediate or advanced level, use of authentic learning materials is entirelyfeasible

2.1.3 Types of ESP

Based on specifying language input according to the learners’ target language use,ESP is commonly divided into English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) andEnglish for Academic Purposes (EAP) While the former focuses on the use of thelanguage in (future) work conditions, the latter deals with teaching and learningEnglish for study purposes (Dudley-Evans & John, 1998, p.34)

Table 2.2: Types of ESP (Dudley-Evans, T & John, M.J 1998, p.34-73)

English for specific purposes

English for Academic Purposes English for Occupational PurposesEnglish for

English for medical purpose s

English for science

&

technolo gy

vocational purposes

professionalpurposes

vocational English

Pre-Vocationa

l English

English for business purposes

English for medical purposes

Browns, J.D (2016, p.7) divided ESP into 2 primary categories as following figure:

EAP means English for Academic Purposes EAP can also be divided intosubcategories of English for science and technology, English for social sciencepurposes and English for humanity purposes

EOP means English for Occupational Purposes EOP also includes some categorieslike English for medical purposes (these purposes may subdivide into smallercategories such as English for doctors, nurses, emergency medical technician…),hotel purposes (these purposes may subdivide into smaller categories such asreceptionist, concierge, maids…), construction purposes and so forth

In conclusion, though the classifications of ESP are expressed differently and eachresearcher has their own points, the most common view is that ESP can be dividedinto EAP and EOP The English program for second-year students majoring inChemistry at the University where the research was conducted can be considered as

a branch of EOP

2.1.4 English for General Purposes (EGP) versus English for Specific Purposes (ESP)

The learners and their purposes for learning English constitute the major differencebetween ESP and EGP On the one hand, ESP learners are usually adults, who arefamiliar with the English language They are highly motivated because of theirneeds They are learning the language in order to communicate professionalinformation and to perform some particular, job-related functions ESP courses arecentered on the context The English language is taught as a subject related to thelearners’ real needs and wishes in a particular field of human activity and usableimmediately in the employment context The learners are highly motivated whenthey are fully aware of their specific purposes for learning English

On the other hand, the ages of English for General Purposes (EGP) learners varyfrom children to adults and learning the English language is the subject of thecourses EGP courses mostly focus on grammar, language structure and generalvocabulary and are responsible to the general language acquisition For the vastmajority of learners, they are extremely useful EGP helps students to cope with anysubject-matter courses It gives them the ability to generate more language If EGPlearners are taught well, they can use English to cope with the language in anyundefined tasks EGP courses deal with many different topics and four skills areequally treated

2.2 Blended learning

2.2.1 Definition of blended learning

Recently, the advantages of using Internet and information technologies haveincreased significantly and it is available for using in language teaching andlearning Therefore, online learning activities are being expanded and becomingalternative choice for traditional face to face teaching and learning

Additionally, a large amount of online learning research has been devoted toproducing content, constructing online learning systems, and integrating technology

to improve the learning process The term blended learning is widely used ineducation settings in which refers to a teaching and learning program that combinesonline learning and offline lessons or it is called a mixture of online and face-to-face learning Graham (2006) defines “blended learning systems’ as learningsystems that “combine face-to-face instruction with computer mediated instruction.”Poon (2013: p.1) adds that the aim of the two delivery methods is to complementeach other Online learning integrates with traditional face-to-face instruction tocreate a more effective experience for both instructor and students The onlineelement should not solely be an addition to classroom-based teaching; rather,blended learning requires the effective integration of both virtual and face-to-facemethods (Garrison and Kanuka, 2004)

So and Brush (2008) claimed that blended learning is effective in facilitating onlinecollaborative learning

In addition, cooperative learning involves carefully structured activities for groupmembers that allow students to reflect on and evaluate their work in the group,while providing suggestions for improvement (Liao, 2006) For example, if ateacher placing some selected course materials, such as a course handbook, on avirtual learning environment would not constitute a sufficient ‘blend’

Singh (2003) describes blended learning as a combination of delivery methods,which complement each other and work to support student learning, while Driscoll(2002) states four different ways in which blended learning can be defined Shedescribes blended learning as:

● a mixing of various web-based technologies;

● a mixing of pedagogical approaches (e.g constructivism, behaviorism);

● a combining of instructional technology with face-to-face teaching; and

● a combining of instructional technology with on-the-job tasks

Sloman (2007) also argues that blended learning should not simply be considered interms of delivery and technology He comments that:

“If the term blended learning is to have longevity in our trainer vocabulary we mustextend its use beyond technology It must be as much about varying learningmethodology as it is about training delivery We must understand more about whatmotivates learners, what support they need and how these supportive interventionscan take place in practice Only with this understanding can we get the “blend”right” (Sloman, 2007, p 315)

2.2.2 Benefits of blended learning

There are several advantages of using blended learning Some evidence improvesblended learning can lead to improved course outcomes Stockwell, Cennamo, andJiang (2015) found that blended learning courses improved attendance at face-to-face classes, in self-report measures of student satisfaction, and in examinationperformance The improvement in course outcomes due to blended learning hasbeen partially attributed to a more strategic use of classroom time Garrison andKanuka (2004) argue that blended learning is effective because it questions thetraditional lecture-based teaching model, allowing classroom time to focus on moreactive and meaningful activities Online activities can be used to either reinforcelearning undertaken in the classroom or they can serve as a basic introduction totopics before they are covered in more depth in class Another advantage of blendedlearning is the increased flexibility of access to learning, which can be attributed tothe inclusion of online components Aspden and Helm (2004) found that blendedlearning especially helped students who lived far away from campus use their time

at university more effectively as they were able to engage with materials at homeprior to attending class Additionally, they found that students who were struggling

with particular topics in class were able to participate and engage with onlinematerials and thus grow in confidence In Wivell and Day’s (2015) study, studentsreported that self-motivation, self-reliance and the ability to work independentlywere essential to their success on the blended learning course However, studentswho already struggled in the face-to-face delivery struggled to adapt to the demands

of the blended program A further potential benefit of blended learning is theadditional opportunity for peer and tutor interaction through online discussion

2.2.3 Requirements of implementing blended learning

There is a range of issues that arise with the implementation of blended learningthat influenced the quality of instruction and learning and has limited applying it in

a wide range These requirements relate to technical, organizational, human,financial and administrative ones The first is that of skills training Learners must

be trained or equipped to navigate the information technology used in blendedlearning and facilitators must be taught to use the technology from the user-end, inorder to facilitate delivery (Beadle and Scanty, 2008; Harris et al., 2009) Someinstructors and students have computer-related phobia: “frustration, confusion,anger, anxiety and similar emotional states which may be associated with theinteraction can adversely affect productivity, learning, social relationships andoverall well-being” (Saade and Kira, 2009, p.180)

There is a lack in the professional technical experts who are able to design blendedlearning programs Additionally, blended learning application requires trainingstudents on how to use technology online and offline successfully On the otherhand, there are difficulties related to the lack in number of needed equipment,especially computers Instructors should utilize the technology that helps infulfilling the educational objectives and not making use of technology simplybecause it is available (Hofmann, 2011) Technology is an important part of theteaching and learning process and it should not be a discrete activity to beundertaken separately in the rest of the learning

Besides, many teachers and learners find it difficult to accept a new method ineither instruction or learning Overcoming the opinion that blended learning is not

as effective as the traditional learning method is very essential Instructors have toaccept the role of the guide and facilitator of the teaching-and-learning process.They should do their best to make online offerings interactive and not to waste timetalking and explaining They should comprehend the idea of how to instruct, not justwhat to instruct as well

The most important requirement that must be discussed relates to human factors.Consideration of the learners' needs and management of their expectations and level

of understanding are crucial for the development and implementation of successfulblended learning modules It is important to take account of learners’ motivation(Stewart, 2002) and ensure learner readiness (Baldwin-Evans, 2006)

The last requirement is instructors should be supplied with extra financial resources

to develop programs to associate with blended learning strategy

2.3 Program evaluation

2.3.1 Definition of program evaluation

Program evaluation is crucial in English learning and teaching because it measureswhether the goals of a teaching program have been met and ensures the program’scontinuous improvement Traditionally, evaluation within the education system ishierarchical- the “expert” superior evaluates his/her subordinate Evaluation will notonly provide feedback on the effectiveness of a program but will also help todetermine whether the program is appropriate for the target population, whetherthere are any problems with its implementation and support, and whether there areany ongoing concerns that need to be resolved as the program is implemented Anumber of writers have attempted a definition of program evaluation

Depending on the scope of their coverage, definitions vary from very broadperspectives Richards et al (1985) views it is as the systematic which gathers ofinformation to make decisions.

"Systematic educational evaluation consists of a formal assessment of the worth ofeducational phenomena" (Popham, 1975, p.8)

Worthen and Sanders (1987, p.19) define that “Evaluation is the determination ofthe worth of a thing It includes obtaining information for use in judging the worth

of a program, product, procedure, or object, or the potential utility of alternativeapproaches designed to attain specified objectives.”

Stake and Sullivan (as cited in Shawer and Alkahtani, 2012) assert programevaluation is undertaken to find out the benefits and drawbacks of the program sothat they can improve performance, reveal they deliver what they promise and

defend why they should keep going this program (p 1336).

2.3.2 Blended learning evaluation

The issue of quality in teaching and learning environments is a subjective andmultifarious concept, dependent on a range of factors relating to students, thecurriculum, faculty, technology and learning design (Meyer, 2002)

Pombo and Moreira (2011) indicate four elements that need to be taken intoconsideration when evaluating blended learning programs:

Figure 2.1: Four puzzle pieces of evaluation (Pombo and Moreira, 2011)

1 What is the purpose of evaluation? To improve student engagement, resources,

or overall course quality?

2 Who should be involved? Lecturers, students, course leaders?

3 How and when should evaluation take place? Methods of data collection; during the course or at the end?

4 What should be evaluated? Teaching, learning, course outcomes, resources, quality of assessment?

Each puzzle piece includes numerous factors that are fully explained in this modelproposed by Pombo and Moreira (2011a)

This study focuses especially on the piece “What should be evaluated?” in order toassure and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the ESP blended learningprogram In this piece, the model includes three main categories:

(i) Teaching (which includes teaching but also the lecturers),

(ii) Learning, and

(iii) Resources

These categories are assessed with the following criteria:

‘Teaching’: (i) the relevance of the proposed activities/tasks; ii) the quality of the teaching materials provided; (iii) the communication tools used; (iv) the organization of the curricular units (e.g if the activities meet the objectives, etc.)

‘Lecturers’: (i) scientific or pedagogical competence; (ii) dynamism and monitoring

in conducting face-to-face and online activities; (iii) skills at motivating students; (iv) quality of feedback given to students, etc.

‘Learning’: (i) the interactions (communication between students) within groups; (ii) the interactions (communication between students) among groups; (iii) the assessment strategies adopted; (iv) the development of specific competences defined for the curricular unit; (v) the development of transversal competences defined for the curricular unit (e.g development of values and attitudes, autonomy, capacity for research and group work, etc.); (vi) type and adequacy of assessment tools/tasks/products (if the literature tools are appropriate to the proposed tasks), etc

‘Resources’: (i) support provided by nonteaching staff; (ii) the support structure (LMS, network, bandwidth, help desk); (iii) logistics (availability of computers, wireless access, adequate rooms ), etc.

These four categories should be connected together, if one category is not workingwell, it will affect the functioning of the whole process In the present study, theresearcher adapted this piece into four major domains of the evaluation: onlinelearning parts, face-to-face lessons, the integration between online and face-to-face,and the learners’ outcomes

2.3.3 Purposes of program evaluation

There is a range of motivation or purposes for evaluating a program, especiallyeducational program Course evaluation aims at providing a general picture of thecourse, reveals the course strengths to prove its success in meeting its goals and

weaknesses for improving in the future The evaluation would be valuable tosuggest further recommendations to expand the goals and content of the course, and

to provide feedback to instructors for improving teaching methodology

Scriven (1967) distinguishes two main types of evaluating: formative andsummative evaluation (as cited in Lynch, 2003) The former occurs while theprogram is being implemented and developed The goal of formative evaluation is

to recommend changes for improving it, and towards this end, it focuses on programprocesses Typically, the outcome of this type is numerous small-scalerecommendations for change The later takes place at the end of a program’s naturalterm or cycle with a view to make a judgment about the program worth, whether ithas succeeded in reaching its aims or not Accordingly, the outcome of thesummative evaluation is a formal report to be used in large-scale decisions such aswhether to continue funding the program or not

In fact, most evaluations represent a combination of formative and summative Ifevaluators are fascinated in judging the ultimate worth of a program, they mustexplain why it is or is not working and then recommend for improvement.Discussing the dissimilarity between formative and summative evaluation, Rea-Dickins and Germain (1992) illustrate this distinction as confirming versusinnovating That is sometimes motivation for evaluation is to decide whether thecurrent practice (program) is doing what it should; at other times, motivation is tobring about innovation or change in those practices

Teachers are insiders who undertake the program and want to improve the quality ofteaching and learning in their own classrooms Students are the recipients of theteaching process, hence students’ perception and observation can work in practiceand become part of exploratory studies (Eken, 1999; Sidhu, 2003 as cited byAhmad, F & Aziz, J, 2009)

One of the most popular methods to investigate what is going on during teaching isthe use of teachers’ and students’ perception

According to Fraiser (1994) students have a good vantage to make judgments abouttheir classrooms because they have encountered many different learningenvironments and have spent time in classroom to form accurate impressions.Therefore, students should at least be able to say what they like and do not like(Fraiser, 1994 as cited in Alausa, Y.A, 2000)

Brown (2007) stated that “Self-assessment allows students to develop intrinsicmotivation as their desire to excel increases” This means that, by asking students toassess themselves during the course, they would feel their own opinions of theirlearning are important Additionally, they can reflect on their strengths andweaknesses, look for new strategies to improve, and set new goals in terms of theirlearning However, Brown (2007) and Chavez (2000) agree that students aresubjective that might affect the validity of evaluation results Students areinfluenced by their own attitude about the teacher and the materials or theirclassmate’s opinion Moore (2005) also establishes that students’ assessment might

be inaccurate as students’ self-reports are sometimes biased He claims that teachers

“should supplement the s students’ self-reports of class-related behaviors withobjective data that are obtained independently” (p 55)

Christie (2012) suppose that a successful course evaluator should identifyadvantages and disadvantages of the teaching-learning process and his/her ownperformance, assess the participants’ viewpoints of course accomplishments andeffectiveness, and receive and incorporate recommendations with a professional

attitude In addition, there will always exist something to improve so evaluatorshould consider issues objectively

Dillion and Peterson (1986) state that although evaluation administrators haveconsiderable responsibility for evaluation Effective administrators involve teachersand students in the process and use their views to good vantage (Dillion & Peterson,

1986 cited by Alausa, Y.A, 2000)

In general, students’ perceptions contribute as much to the teaching- learningprocess by providing suggestions and directions for teachers’ future improvement.Teachers can use the information or comments gathered from the students to polishtheir methodology and style of teaching and look for ways to improve

This study presents the evaluation from the teachers and students perspectivesaffected by the ESP blended learning program Research on students’ perceptionsfunctions as a mirror to reflect upon the teaching and learning; hence enhance theteachers and learners understanding of teaching and increase its outcome Teachersare those implementing the program, so their views of the teaching and learningprocess can help make improvements to the quality of the program

2.4 Previous studies related to the thesis

There have been several studies concerning the ESP blended learning program forhigher education Firstly, the definition of blended learning and ESP should be clearfor the deep comprehension about the research topic In this study, the researchersupports the definition of Graham (2006) that “blended learning systems’ is learningsystems that “combine face-to-face instruction with computer mediated instruction”.Hutchison and Waters (1988, p.19) defines ESP is an approach to language teaching

in which all decisions as to content and methods are based on the learners’ reasonsfor learning

After understanding the key terms of blended learning and ESP as mentioned above,the researcher would write a brief summary of relevant studies

Kintu, Zhu and Kagambe (2017) investigated the effectiveness of a blendedlearning environment through analyzing the relationship between studentcharacteristics/background, design features, and learning outcomes in the Ugandanuniversity context The authors administered to 238 respondents to gather data onstudent characteristics/background, design features, and learning outcomes Theanalysis results showed that the learner characteristics, design features investigatedare potentially important for an effective blended learning environment The resultsalso indicate that some of the student characteristics/backgrounds and designfeatures are significant predictors for student learning outcomes in blended learning.Huang, Q (2016) conducted a research about learner’s perceptions of blendedlearning in relation to the respective roles of face-to-face learning and onlinelearning as well as their interaction in the blended EFL contexts The study usedquestionnaires to examine the attitudes of 296 university students towards a blendedEnglish course learned at the university The results showed that students weregenerally positive about blended learning and they also acknowledged theinterdependencies between face-to-face learning and online learning in the blendedEnglish course The findings of the research shed light on how face-to-face andonline learning interplay with each other in the blended learning context so that thelearning environment can be better integrated for English learning.

Liu, M (2013) describes and evaluates blended learning in an Academic EnglishWriting course in terms of course design, material development and presentation,assignment submission and grading, student involvement, teacher reflection, andstudent evaluation The research showed that the students highly appreciated andbenefited from the blended learning employed in the course in varying ways: ithelped increase student-student and student-teacher interactions, reduce or eveneliminate communication anxiety, motivate them to become (more) independentand autonomous learners, and enhance their academic English writing ability, and

so on

Al-Zumor, Al-Refaai, Bader Eddin & Al-Rahman (2013) investigated King KhalidUniversity English (EFL) students’ views regarding the advantages and limitations

of the blended learning The study also examined students’ suggestions forimproving the quality of blended learning courses The findings reveal that studentsappreciated learning management system in enhancing their confidence, providingopportunities for useful feedback from both their instructors and their peers andimproving communication among students and their instructors Additionally,students found that blended learning was more effective than the traditional face-to-face mode of instruction Students suggested solving technical problems, providingproper training and increasing the number of e-learning labs

Tue N (2015) conducted a study to investigate English as Foreign Language (EFL)teachers’ perceptions and practices of blended learning in a Vietnamese universityand influencing factors The study collected data from interviews with 15 teachers,three institutional executives, and one executive of online service provider,observations of the teachers’ practice in face-to-face classes The findings revealedthat teachers have limited understandings and use of blended learning due to threeprimary influential factors: (i) the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy, (ii)institutional management and leadership styles, and (iii) fragmented knowledge oftechnological, pedagogical, and content knowledge for blended learning Theresearcher also proposed a systematic understanding of blended learning concepts, alocalized TPACK framework, and a model of teacher professional developmentprogram

The previous studies differ in some ways concerning methodology and tools, butthey generally investigated students’ evaluation and teachers’ evaluations of theblended learning This indicates the significance of implementing the blendedlearning approach in instructing English The researcher benefited a lot from theabove-mentioned studies in developing the research instruments and enriching thetheoretical knowledge However, the present research goes in line with the above

mentioned studies in some aspects like the design and the used tools, but it dealswith a different sample and uses different materials and strategy.

This study is related to previous ones that examined the practices of teaching andlearning in blended learning program, concerning the perceptions of Pombo &Moreira (2010) To extend prior research and test the application of the blendedlearning strategy, this research attempts to assess the effectiveness of ESP blendedlearning for the second-year students in the Chemistry Department at a university inHanoi

2.5 Chapter summary

This chapter has provided a brief critical review of the literature on programevaluation and ESP blended learning program The first section indicated majorissues of ESP, including the definition and its characteristics, types of ESP, EGPand ESP comparison The second section addressed blended learning: itsdefinitions, requirements, and benefits The third part focused on programevaluation, its definitions, purposes and program evaluators; and then presentedabout ESP program evaluation and blended learning evaluation theory The last part

of this chapter presented some previous studies related to the topic of the presentresearch Therefore, this chapter can be seen as the theoretical foundation for theapplications for the study in chapter three

CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY

This chapter is devoted to presenting the research methodology including researchquestions, research method, participants, data collection instruments andprocedures

3.1.2 Teachers

The study was conducted with the participation of five English teachers who taughtEnglish for these students All of them have obtained BA or MA degrees in Englishteaching methodology They have at least one year of experience in teachingEnglish for ESP blended learning program All of them are enthusiastic and willing

to help students Therefore, they can provide their own view of the program

3.2 Research setting

The researcher has worked as an English lecturer for four years at the universitywhere this study is conducted This university has many departments and all the

students have to learn English for six semesters Since it was set up, there have beenseveral English programs, and recently the school has implemented blendedlearning program for the students of all departments including students in ChemistryDepartment.

The blended learning program applied here is the mix of online course and face lessons Students are given an account to access the online website(eop.edu.vn) and these accounts are activated on the first day of the semester tostudy online and closed when the term finishes For the first year (two terms), thestudents learn English for General Purposes (EGP) and for the second and the thirdyear, they learn English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) – a part of ESP

face-to-The participants of this study are fifty-five students of Chemistry Department, whoare all in the class Chemistry 1 All of them are learning English in the ESP blendedlearning program for three semesters They learn online at home on the onlineplatform created by IT staff, and then learn two face-to-face lessons a week in class.Each semester lasts for ten weeks, which includes four online tests, two progresstests and a midterm test in class The results of these tests allow them to take thefinal test if their average score is equal or more than mark 5 If not, they take thecourse again without joining the final exam The final exam takes place in the 11thweek and students must get at least 5 points to pass the exam

There are two books used to teach in the programs The textbook “English forChemical and Environmental Engineering” is used in class The book contains eightunits and each unit covers one theme The books aimed to develop students’speaking skills The textbook “Teacher’s and Tutor’s handouts” covers all theexercises related to the topics There are six kinds of exercises: vocabulary,grammar, reading, listening, writing and speaking for students to review theknowledge in online lessons and face-to-face lessons This ESP blended learningrequires students to study online before every single face-to-face lesson After each

export a report for the students’ online result If the students do not finish the onlineexercises before the deadline, they will be charged two absent lessons Afterlearning in class, students also required to review the topic at home, do a smallonline test and create a short paragraph about the topic of the unit The averagescore of these online tests are more than or equal to 5 is a condition for students totake part in the final exam The proportion of online learning and face-to-facelessons are equal in this course

2 What are difficulties encountered by teachers and students during their teaching and learning time in this ESP blended learning program?

3.4 Research methods

Survey research is employed in this study Survey research is defined as "thecollection of information from a sample of individuals through their responses toquestions" (Check and Schutt, 2012, p 160) This type of research allows for avariety of methods to recruit participants, collect data, and utilize various methods

of instrumentation Mackey and Gass (2005) suggest that a survey, as a form ofquantitative research method, mostly in the form of questionnaires, is one of themost common methods when focusing on investigating the opinions or attitudes oflarge groups of participants Similarly, Dörnyei (2007) argues that usingquantitative methods removes the stress of unique human variability and personalbias and then brings objectivity to the study Consequently, a questionnaire wasdeveloped and used to gather information about participants’ evaluation However,

quantitative instruments are not always enough because they are limited in terms ofjudging the subjective variety of individual life Therefore, Dörnyei (2007) suggeststhe combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for survey research.

The aim of this study is to measure the effectiveness of ESP blended learningapplying for second-year students majoring in Chemistry at a university in Hanoi, inorder to find out the merits and demerits for the purpose of improvement There aretwo main reasons for choosing survey research for this study First, the goal ofsurvey research, which is to obtain information by gathering data from a particularsample of a given population to study its characteristics, fits well with the objectives

of this study: to evaluate the effectiveness of ESP blended learning program forsecond-year students majoring Chemistry at a university in Hanoi Second, surveyresearch allows researchers to collect rich data quickly and effectively, which issuitable when conducting a questionnaire with different aspects of an evaluationaccording to Pombo and Moreira’s evaluation model (2011)

Based on the criteria in the evaluation framework, the researcher arranged thesecategories in four major domains of the evaluation:

(i) online learning parts,

(ii) face-to-face lessons,

(iii) the integration between online and face-to-face, and

(iv) the learners’ outcomes

The researcher chiefly uses quantitative and qualitative methods to collect data.The use of quantitative data (questionnaires for students) and qualitative data(teachers’ interviews) helped to make the findings credible The surveys are usedfor gathering students’ evaluation on the ESP blended learning that theyexperienced in three semesters In-depth interviews of teachers' evaluation towards

ESP blended learning were obtained after the survey questionnaire to have a deeperanalysis and interpretation of the results.

The steps of constructing the questionnaires were performed as follows:

(1) Constructing and piloting the questionnaires;

(2) Revising the questionnaires;

(3) Delivering the questionnaires;

(4) Collecting questionnaires back;

(5) Making an analysis from questionnaires;

(6) Giving meaningful interpretation

3.5 Data collection instruments

In research, there are various ways to collect data such as interviews,questionnaires, observations, document analysis, etc In this study, the researcherused questionnaires and in-depth interviews as the main instruments of collectingdata Questionnaires and interviews are two types of instrument used in survey-based research or research that aims at studying “the characteristics of a population

by examining a sample of that group” (Dörnyei, 2007, p 101); they are also some

of the most efficient methods of understanding and improving foreign languageprograms (Davis, 2011)

3.5.1 Questionnaire

It is obvious that questionnaires can be the most common tool to collect databecause of certain advantages As Seilinger and Shohany (1989) pointed out,questionnaires do not take much time to administer as other procedures Also, sincethe same questionnaire is given to all the subjects at the same time, the data aremore uniform, standard and accurate Hence, survey questionnaire is very useful

when the researcher need to quickly and easily get a lot of information from people

or phenomena that cannot be observed and the researcher can get a large amount ofdata in a short time The participants can complete anonymously which make themmore comfortable to do the survey and make the result more reliable Lastly,questionnaires can be easily quantified because multiple-choice questions or itemsform of Likert- scale are used Moreover, the population of the study is 55 students,which are quite big in quantity to apply interview The students also have theirlearning schedule which are different from each other because they have right tochoose their timetable from the beginning of each semester, therefore, it isimpossible for the researcher to observe their English classes Due to theseadvantages and analysis mentioned above, survey is used as a main data collectioninstrument in this study

In this study, questionnaire items were used to get information about the students’opinion about the ESP blended learning program that they learned in the thirdsemester at the university There were 2 types ‘close-ended’ and ‘open-ended’ items

in the survey questionnaires

The first part of the questionnaire is ‘close-ended’ question which the authorattached in appendix A This is a set of questions mainly about the students’evaluation on the online learning parts, face-to-face lessons, the integration betweenonline and face to face and the learners’ outcome The evaluator offered and askedrespondents to number their level of agree according to five- point Likert-Scalefrom 1 to 5 (Strongly agree (1)- agree (2)- neutral (3)- disagree(4)- Stronglydisagree(5)) These questionnaires, adapted from Akkoyunlu & Soylu (2008), wereoriginally designed to understand the perceptions of students and instructorsregarding blended learning The questionnaires developed for the present studywere modified to fit the blended learning format of the institution and for thepurpose of the study The questionnaire was developed to identify students’