Evaluating an ESP blended learning program for second year students majoring in chemistry in a university in hanoi

This paper aims at evaluating the effectiveness of an ESP blended learning program for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi, finding the difficulties which

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES

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 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

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 Ở HÀ NỘI

M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS

Field: ELT Methodology

Code: 8140231.01

Supervisor: Trần Thị Thu Hiền, Ph.D

HANOI – 2019

DECLARATION

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 this thesis has not been previously submitted for a higher degree in any other education institution

Dao Thi Hoa

September, 2019

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

During the period of completing the Master thesis, I have received the support of a great 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 the research project

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

I am indebted to the university where I work, my colleagues, and my students who participated 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 Without their participation, this study would not have come into being

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

Dao Thi Hoa

ABSTRACT

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

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

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF FIGURES vii

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) 14 Figure 4.1: Students‟ evaluation of online learning parts 31 Figure 4.2: Students‟ evaluation on face-to-face lessons 34 Figure 4.3: Students‟ evaluation on the integration between online and face-to-face 37 Figure 4.4: Students‟ evaluation on their outcomes 40 Figure 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) 6 Table 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 in particular The increased integration of ICTs in teaching and learning has become more familiar with higher education in Vietnam and led to a deeper interest in enhanced interactions between students and their teachers, peers and learning materials As a result, blended learning, defined as “the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies.” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008), has been becoming a popular method

in higher education because it not only helps improve teaching methodologies but also changes students‟ ways of learning However, the main issues here are to what extent blended learning is effective

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

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

to learn online and focus on facilitating students‟ interactive and collaborative learning in face-to-face classes For example, students learning online at home will have material for their face-to-face classes and then have more time to apply these materials into improving speaking Therefore, the combination of online and face-to-face learning creates opportunities for students to develop their English knowledge 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 where the study is conducted is one of the first universities applying blended learning in

teaching English The implementation of blended learning is expected to enable teachers to improve their teaching methodology to facilitate students‟ development

of English ability for social and professional communication, as well as their lifelong learning skills To achieve these purposes, teachers teaching in blended learning courses are required to understand blended learning, take part in designing curriculums and material processes Although the university has applied blended learning in teaching English there since 2015, there has not been any research into evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching program It is necessary to discover the answer to this matter Basing on the results, recommendations can be proposed to improve the quality of this program at the university A deep understanding of the effectiveness of blended learning environment will provide the opportunity to improve 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 program for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a University in Hanoi Its interrelated 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 following research 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 using questionnaires and interviews to collect data Fifty-five second-year students, who are either taking or have just completed the ESP blended learning course have participated in filling the questionnaire Five teachers teaching the ESP blended learning program have been interviewed

The data obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively to identify the common patterns of responses regarding the effectiveness of such program The answers from the interviews were analyzed to identify the teachers‟ evaluation of the program and their suggestions for improving this program

1.4 Scope of the study

The study is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of ESP blended learning for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi from the perspectives of teachers and students experiencing this program All other studies aim at evaluating other programs for other types of students are out of the scope of the 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 some possible suggestions to improve such program Therefore, the result of the study is the material for teachers teaching ESP blended learning at this university in particular 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 of ESP, the differences between EGP and ESP The second part is about the definition, characteristics of blended learning and requirements in implementing blended learning 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 but not least, a brief summary of some existing relevant studies is also presented in this chapter

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 analyzing questionnaire 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 for further 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 literature related to program evaluation In each section, the definition, is presented together with some related features of each term Besides, the previous studies are also mentioned 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 and competencies of language usage in different contexts

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

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

ESP is also defined as “the role of English in a language course or programme of instruction in which the content and aims of the course are fixed by the specific needs 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 certain clearly defined tasks These tasks constitute the specific purposes which the ESP course is designed to meet.”

As definitions are mentioned above, ESP courses should have the distinctive features from General English course of skills, themes, situations, functions language 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 the target setting Finally, self-direction is characteristic of ESP courses in that the " point of including self-direction is that ESP is concerned with turning learners into users" (Carter, 1983, p 134) In order for self-direction to occur, the learners must have a certain degree of freedom to decide when, what, and how they will study Carter (1983) also adds that there must be a systematic attempt by teachers to teach the learners how to learn by teaching them about learning strategies

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

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

Absolute characteristics Variable characteristics

1 ESP is defined to meet

specific needs of the learner;

2 ESP makes use of the

underlying methodology and

activities of the disciplines it

serves;

3 ESP is centered on the

language (grammar, lexis), skills,

and discourse appropriate to

these activities

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

2 ESP may use, in specific teaching situations,

a different methodology from that of General English;

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

4 ESP is generally designed for intermediate

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

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) and English for Academic Purposes (EAP) While the former focuses on the use of the language in (future) work conditions, the latter deals with teaching and learning English 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 Purposes English for

management

, finance and

economics

English for legal purpose

s

English for medical purpose

s

English for science

purposes

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 into subcategories of English for science and technology, English for social science purposes and English for humanity purposes

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

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

On the other hand, the ages of English for General Purposes (EGP) learners vary from children to adults and learning the English language is the subject of the courses EGP courses mostly focus on grammar, language structure and general vocabulary and are responsible to the general language acquisition For the vast majority of learners, they are extremely useful EGP helps students to cope with any subject-matter courses It gives them the ability to generate more language If EGP

learners are taught well, they can use English to cope with the language in any undefined tasks EGP courses deal with many different topics and four skills are equally treated

2.2 Blended learning

2.2.1 Definition of blended learning

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

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

to improve the learning process The term blended learning is widely used in education settings in which refers to a teaching and learning program that combines online learning and offline lessons or it is called a mixture of online and face-to-face learning Graham (2006) defines “blended learning systems‟ as learning systems 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 complement each other Online learning integrates with traditional face-to-face instruction to create a more effective experience for both instructor and students The online element should not solely be an addition to classroom-based teaching; rather, blended learning requires the effective integration of both virtual and face-to-face methods (Garrison and Kanuka, 2004)

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

In addition, cooperative learning involves carefully structured activities for group members that allow students to reflect on and evaluate their work in the group, while providing suggestions for improvement (Liao, 2006) For example, if a teacher placing some selected course materials, such as a course handbook, on a virtual 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 She describes 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 in terms of delivery and technology He comments that:

“If the term blended learning is to have longevity in our trainer vocabulary we must extend its use beyond technology It must be as much about varying learning methodology as it is about training delivery We must understand more about what motivates learners, what support they need and how these supportive interventions can 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 improves blended learning can lead to improved course outcomes Stockwell, Cennamo, and Jiang (2015) found that blended learning courses improved attendance at face-to-face classes, in self-report measures of student satisfaction, and in examination performance The improvement in course outcomes due to blended learning has been partially attributed to a more strategic use of classroom time Garrison and Kanuka (2004) argue that blended learning is effective because it questions the traditional lecture-based teaching model, allowing classroom time to focus on more active and meaningful activities Online activities can be used to either reinforce learning undertaken in the classroom or they can serve as a basic introduction to topics before they are covered in more depth in class Another advantage of blended learning is the increased flexibility of access to learning, which can be attributed to

the inclusion of online components Aspden and Helm (2004) found that blended learning 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 home prior to attending class Additionally, they found that students who were struggling with particular topics in class were able to participate and engage with online materials and thus grow in confidence In Wivell and Day‟s (2015) study, students reported that self-motivation, self-reliance and the ability to work independently were essential to their success on the blended learning course However, students who 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 the additional 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 learning that 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 blended learning and facilitators must be taught to use the technology from the user-end, in order to facilitate delivery (Beadle and Scanty, 2008; Harris et al., 2009) Some instructors and students have computer-related phobia: “frustration, confusion, anger, anxiety and similar emotional states which may be associated with the interaction can adversely affect productivity, learning, social relationships and overall well-being” (Saade and Kira, 2009, p.180)

There is a lack in the professional technical experts who are able to design blended learning programs Additionally, blended learning application requires training students on how to use technology online and offline successfully On the other hand, there are difficulties related to the lack in number of needed equipment, especially computers Instructors should utilize the technology that helps in fulfilling the educational objectives and not making use of technology simply

because it is available (Hofmann, 2011) Technology is an important part of the teaching and learning process and it should not be a discrete activity to be undertaken separately in the rest of the learning

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

as effective as the traditional learning method is very essential Instructors have to accept 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 time talking and explaining They should comprehend the idea of how to instruct, not just what 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 successful blended 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 measures whether the goals of a teaching program have been met and ensures the program‟s continuous improvement Traditionally, evaluation within the education system is hierarchical- the “expert” superior evaluates his/her subordinate Evaluation will not only provide feedback on the effectiveness of a program but will also help to determine whether the program is appropriate for the target population, whether there are any problems with its implementation and support, and whether there are any ongoing concerns that need to be resolved as the program is implemented A number of writers have attempted a definition of program evaluation

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

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

Worthen and Sanders (1987, p.19) define that “Evaluation is the determination of the 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 alternative approaches designed to attain specified objectives.”

Stake and Sullivan (as cited in Shawer and Alkahtani, 2012) assert program evaluation is undertaken to find out the benefits and drawbacks of the program so that 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 and multifarious concept, dependent on a range of factors relating to students, the curriculum, faculty, technology and learning design (Meyer, 2002)

Pombo and Moreira (2011) indicate four elements that need to be taken into consideration 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 model proposed by Pombo and Moreira (2011a)

This study focuses especially on the piece “What should be evaluated?” in order to assure and enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the ESP blended learning program 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 working well, it will affect the functioning of the whole process In the present study, the researcher adapted this piece into four major domains of the evaluation: online learning 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, especially educational program Course evaluation aims at providing a general picture of the course, reveals the course strengths to prove its success in meeting its goals and weaknesses for improving in the future The evaluation would be valuable to suggest 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 and summative evaluation (as cited in Lynch, 2003) The former occurs while the program is being implemented and developed The goal of formative evaluation is

to recommend changes for improving it, and towards this end, it focuses on program processes Typically, the outcome of this type is numerous small-scale recommendations for change The later takes place at the end of a program‟s natural term or cycle with a view to make a judgment about the program worth, whether it has succeeded in reaching its aims or not Accordingly, the outcome of the summative evaluation is a formal report to be used in large-scale decisions such as whether to continue funding the program or not

In fact, most evaluations represent a combination of formative and summative If evaluators are fascinated in judging the ultimate worth of a program, they must explain 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 versus

innovating That is sometimes motivation for evaluation is to decide whether the current practice (program) is doing what it should; at other times, motivation is to bring about innovation or change in those practices

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

According to Fraiser (1994) students have a good vantage to make judgments about their classrooms because they have encountered many different learning environments 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 intrinsic motivation as their desire to excel increases” This means that, by asking students to assess themselves during the course, they would feel their own opinions of their learning are important Additionally, they can reflect on their strengths and weaknesses, look for new strategies to improve, and set new goals in terms of their learning However, Brown (2007) and Chavez (2000) agree that students are subjective that might affect the validity of evaluation results Students are influenced by their own attitude about the teacher and the materials or their classmate‟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 with objective data that are obtained independently” (p 55)

Christie (2012) suppose that a successful course evaluator should identify advantages and disadvantages of the teaching-learning process and his/her own performance, assess the participants‟ viewpoints of course accomplishments and effectiveness, and receive and incorporate recommendations with a professional attitude In addition, there will always exist something to improve so evaluator should consider issues objectively

Dillion and Peterson (1986) state that although evaluation administrators have considerable responsibility for evaluation Effective administrators involve teachers and 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- learning process by providing suggestions and directions for teachers‟ future improvement Teachers can use the information or comments gathered from the students to polish their methodology and style of teaching and look for ways to improve

This study presents the evaluation from the teachers and students perspectives affected by the ESP blended learning program Research on students‟ perceptions functions as a mirror to reflect upon the teaching and learning; hence enhance the teachers and learners understanding of teaching and increase its outcome Teachers are those implementing the program, so their views of the teaching and learning process 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 for higher education Firstly, the definition of blended learning and ESP should be clear for the deep comprehension about the research topic In this study, the researcher supports the definition of Graham (2006) that “blended learning systems‟ is learning systems 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‟ reasons for 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 blended learning environment through analyzing the relationship between student characteristics/background, design features, and learning outcomes in the Ugandan university context The authors administered to 238 respondents to gather data on student characteristics/background, design features, and learning outcomes The analysis results showed that the learner characteristics, design features investigated are potentially important for an effective blended learning environment The results also indicate that some of the student characteristics/backgrounds and design features are significant predictors for student learning outcomes in blended learning Huang, Q (2016) conducted a research about learner‟s perceptions of blended learning in relation to the respective roles of face-to-face learning and online learning as well as their interaction in the blended EFL contexts The study used questionnaires to examine the attitudes of 296 university students towards a blended English course learned at the university The results showed that students were generally positive about blended learning and they also acknowledged the interdependencies between face-to-face learning and online learning in the blended English course The findings of the research shed light on how face-to-face and online learning interplay with each other in the blended learning context so that the learning environment can be better integrated for English learning

Liu, M (2013) describes and evaluates blended learning in an Academic English Writing course in terms of course design, material development and presentation, assignment submission and grading, student involvement, teacher reflection, and student evaluation The research showed that the students highly appreciated and benefited from the blended learning employed in the course in varying ways: it helped increase student-student and student-teacher interactions, reduce or even eliminate communication anxiety, motivate them to become (more) independent

and autonomous learners, and enhance their academic English writing ability, and

Tue N (2015) conducted a study to investigate English as Foreign Language (EFL) teachers‟ perceptions and practices of blended learning in a Vietnamese university and 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 revealed that teachers have limited understandings and use of blended learning due to three primary influential factors: (i) the traditional teacher-centered pedagogy, (ii) institutional management and leadership styles, and (iii) fragmented knowledge of technological, pedagogical, and content knowledge for blended learning The researcher also proposed a systematic understanding of blended learning concepts, a localized TPACK framework, and a model of teacher professional development program

The previous studies differ in some ways concerning methodology and tools, but they generally investigated students‟ evaluation and teachers‟ evaluations of the blended learning This indicates the significance of implementing the blended learning approach in instructing English The researcher benefited a lot from the above-mentioned studies in developing the research instruments and enriching the theoretical 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 deals with a different sample and uses different materials and strategy

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

2.5 Chapter summary

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

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

CHAPTER 3- METHODOLOGY

This chapter is devoted to presenting the research methodology including research questions, research method, participants, data collection instruments and procedures

3.1.2 Teachers

The study was conducted with the participation of five English teachers who taught English for these students All of them have obtained BA or MA degrees in English teaching methodology They have at least one year of experience in teaching English 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 university where 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 been several English programs, and recently the school has implemented blended

learning program for the students of all departments including students in Chemistry Department

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 to study online and closed when the term finishes For the first year (two terms), the students learn English for General Purposes (EGP) and for the second and the third year, 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, who are all in the class Chemistry 1 All of them are learning English in the ESP blended learning program for three semesters They learn online at home on the online platform 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 progress tests and a midterm test in class The results of these tests allow them to take the final test if their average score is equal or more than mark 5 If not, they take the course again without joining the final exam The final exam takes place in the 11th week 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 for Chemical and Environmental Engineering” is used in class The book contains eight units and each unit covers one theme The books aimed to develop students‟ speaking skills The textbook “Teacher‟s and Tutor‟s handouts” covers all the exercises related to the topics There are six kinds of exercises: vocabulary, grammar, reading, listening, writing and speaking for students to review the knowledge in online lessons and face-to-face lessons This ESP blended learning requires students to study online before every single face-to-face lesson After each lesson, teachers set a deadline for online work and at that time, the teacher will export a report for the students‟ online result If the students do not finish the online exercises before the deadline, they will be charged two absent lessons After learning in class, students also required to review the topic at home, do a small

online test and create a short paragraph about the topic of the unit The average score of these online tests are more than or equal to 5 is a condition for students to take part in the final exam The proportion of online learning and face-to-face lessons are equal in this course

3.3 Research questions

In tailoring the methodology for the research, it is beneficial to refer back to the research questions posed in the first chapter, which are:

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?

3.4 Research methods

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

of instrumentation Mackey and Gass (2005) suggest that a survey, as a form of quantitative research method, mostly in the form of questionnaires, is one of the most common methods when focusing on investigating the opinions or attitudes of large groups of participants Similarly, Dörnyei (2007) argues that using quantitative methods removes the stress of unique human variability and personal bias and then brings objectivity to the study Consequently, a questionnaire was developed and used to gather information about participants‟ evaluation However, quantitative instruments are not always enough because they are limited in terms of judging the subjective variety of individual life Therefore, Dörnyei (2007) suggests the combination of quantitative and qualitative methods for survey research

The aim of this study is to measure the effectiveness of ESP blended learning applying for second-year students majoring in Chemistry at a university in Hanoi, in order to find out the merits and demerits for the purpose of improvement There are

two main reasons for choosing survey research for this study First, the goal of survey research, which is to obtain information by gathering data from a particular sample 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 for second-year students majoring Chemistry at a university in Hanoi Second, survey research allows researchers to collect rich data quickly and effectively, which is suitable when conducting a questionnaire with different aspects of an evaluation according to Pombo and Moreira‟s evaluation model (2011)

Based on the criteria in the evaluation framework, the researcher arranged these categories 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 used for gathering students‟ evaluation on the ESP blended learning that they experienced in three semesters In-depth interviews of teachers' evaluation towards ESP blended learning were obtained after the survey questionnaire to have a deeper analysis 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 researcher used questionnaires and in-depth interviews as the main instruments of collecting data 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 language programs (Davis, 2011)

3.5.1 Questionnaire

It is obvious that questionnaires can be the most common tool to collect data because of certain advantages As Seilinger and Shohany (1989) pointed out, questionnaires do not take much time to administer as other procedures Also, since the same questionnaire is given to all the subjects at the same time, the data are more 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 of data in a short time The participants can complete anonymously which make them more comfortable to do the survey and make the result more reliable Lastly, questionnaires can be easily quantified because multiple-choice questions or items form 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 their learning schedule which are different from each other because they have right to choose their timetable from the beginning of each semester, therefore, it is impossible for the researcher to observe their English classes Due to these advantages and analysis mentioned above, survey is used as a main data collection instrument 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 third

semester 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 author attached 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 between online and face to face and the learners‟ outcome The evaluator offered and asked respondents to number their level of agree according to five- point Likert-Scale from 1 to 5 (Strongly agree (1)- agree (2)- neutral (3)- disagree(4)- Strongly disagree(5)) These questionnaires, adapted from Akkoyunlu & Soylu (2008), were originally designed to understand the perceptions of students and instructors regarding blended learning The questionnaires developed for the present study were modified to fit the blended learning format of the institution and for the purpose of the study The questionnaire was developed to identify students‟ evaluation of the ESP blended learning program Statements in the questionnaire were categorized into four main following domains:

* Closed- ended questions:

- Items (1-8) identify the students’ evaluations on online learning parts;

- Items (9-19) address the ideas about face-to-face lessons from the students’ perception;

- Items (20-26) are related to the integration between online and face-to-face lessons;

- Items (27-32) are students’ self-evaluation of their learning outcome

The data collected from the survey is used to measure the students‟ opinion about the ESP blended learning program after learning three ESP blended learning semesters

The second part of the questionnaire is „semi-open‟ questions which asked the students to choose some of their difficulties and also give their own answers about the difficulties having in learning process

* Semi- open questions

- Item 34 asks for their difficulties during learning

The third part of questionnaire is „open-ended‟ which required students to write their own suggestions for the program From this result, the author can partly answer the second research question

* Open-ended questions

- Item 33 asks for students’ expectation

- Item 35 focuses on students’ suggestions for improving the course based on their experience

3.5.2 Interview

The second way of gathering data in this study is by conducting in-depth interviews Janesick (2000) defines interviews as a „meeting of two persons to exchange information and ideas through questions and responses, resulting in communication and joint construction of meaning about a particular topic‟ (p 30) Compared to questionnaires, interviews provide evaluators with in-depth information that can be later interpreted in a context that explains the inquiry about phenomena When using questions that encourage reflection, interviews may create ideas and elicit insights not readily captured through questionnaires

Five teachers teaching English for Chemistry Department students in ESP blended learning course in the third semester were interviewed to get more detailed information and understand the issues explicitly The interviews produce the responses that were unpredictable, hence the data is more reliable and validity

In this study, the author uses the same questions for both students‟ survey and teachers‟ interviews to gather data

3.6 Data collection procedure

students, explained the purposes of the survey and asked for their agreement to cooperate

The researcher used the same questions of the survey for interviews; and then the researcher got in contact with the teachers in person to ask for their consent in helping with the interview The recording device was set up to ensure that nothing said by the respondents would be missed

Step 2: Administering the questionnaire and conducting the interview

First, 55 students were chosen randomly to do a survey to find out their evaluation

of learning English in ESP blended learning program The students‟ opinions about the online learning resources, face - to-face lessons, the integration between online learning and face-to-face and learning outcomes were revealed through the questionnaires Moreover, the questions are in English so the researcher translated it into Vietnamese for easier understanding Afterward, the English- Vietnamese questionnaires were delivered to the 55 students

The researcher visited the participants and administered the questionnaire directly

To begin with, the researcher explained that the questionnaire is not a test so the students answered more freely and comfortably The researcher gave students three days to complete the questionnaires because these questionnaires need reading and answered carefully for reliable results It would not have a reliable data if the participants complete 35 questions in five or ten minutes in class After collecting

55 questionnaires back, the writer sorted it and analyzed the data

3.6.2 Interview

Second, in-depth interview was carried out with five teachers teaching in this ESP blended learning program for those students All the interviews were conducted through face-to-face discussion in English with teachers The purpose is to investigate the teacher‟s assessment about the effectiveness of applying blended learning for second-year students as well as to find out their difficulties and suggestions to improve this program The researcher and the interviewees had a good rapport for a long time as the researcher had been working as a teacher since

the program started for Chemistry students Therefore, the researcher and the interviewees were now fairly acquainted The researcher began each interview by ensuring the respondents of their anonymous in the current study The questions were asked and answered in the order that specified in the interview schedule The researcher tried to take note all details during each interview and the whole conversations were recorded by a device placed close to the respondents After that, the data was sorted, and analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively to obtain realistic results

3.7 Data analysis procedure

Data analysis comprises of two main parts:

3.7.1 Analysis of the survey questionnaire

In order to analyze the results from the survey of 55 students, the data collected from questionnaire was entered into the excel platform, and then calculated the frequency for items addressing the same target

3.7.2 Analysis of the interview

The analysis of the interviews was broken into smaller steps:

Step 1: Transcribing the interviews

All the interviews were transcribed to enable closer, full investigation of the information provided by the respondents With the transcription, the examination of the data is more convenient and makes it easier for the researcher to find out the theory generated from the data

Step 2: Classifying the data

The data were classified according to research questions that the study seeks to answer There are two major groups of answers corresponding to the research questions including the evaluation of teachers of the course and their difficulties during teaching time

Step 3: Interpreting the data

In this step, within each group of the answers, comparison and contrast are made for greater understanding to find the answer for the research questions