A study on teaching and learning ESP vocabulary to 2nd year students in accounting faculty at hanoi college of economics and technology

I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “A study on teaching and learning ESPvocabulary to 2nd year students in Accounting Faculty at Hanoi College of Economicsand Technology” is the resul

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

**********

TRẦN THỊ ÂN

A STUDY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING ESP

ACCOUNTING FACULTY AT HANOI COLLEGE OF

ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY

(NGHIÊN CỨU VIỆC GIẢNG DẠY VÀ HỌC TỪ VỰNG CHUYÊN NGÀNH CỦA SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 2, KHOA

KẾ TOÁN, TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG KINH TẾ – KỸ THUẬT

HÀ NỘI)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESISField : English Teaching MethodologyCode : 60140111

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOIUNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

**********

TRẦN THỊ ÂN

A STUDY ON TEACHING AND LEARNING ESP

ACCOUNTING FACULTY AT HANOI COLLEGE OF

ECONOMICS AND TECHNOLOGY

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching MethodologyCode: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Kiều Thị Thu Hương

HÀ NỘI – 2014

I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “A study on teaching and learning ESPvocabulary to 2nd year students in Accounting Faculty at Hanoi College of Economicsand Technology” is the result of my own research for the Minor Degree of Master ofArts at University of Language and International Studies, Vietnam NationalUniversity, Hanoi The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any otheruniversities or institutions I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the librarycan be accessible for the purposes of study and research

Hanoi, 2014

Trần Thị Ân

In completion of this study, first of all, I would like to express my sincere deepgratitude to my supervisor Dr Kieu Thi Thu Huong, without whom this thesis couldnot have been completed She gave me not only reliable guidelines andknowledgeable suggestions but also continual encouragement to accomplish thisstudy

I am indebted to Assoc Prof Dr Le Hung Tien – the chair of Faculty of Graduate Studies for his valuable and interesting course in Research Methodology,which provides me with essential techniques to complete this thesis

My deep appreciation goes to all staff, teachers and members at Faculty of Graduate Studies of University of Languages and International Studies, VietnamNational University for their work and services Especially, I am grateful to thelibrarians who supplied me with a lot of materials

Post-My thanks are also extended to all my students, my colleagues at Hanoi College

of Economics and Technology, and all the people who have assisted my researchwork

Last but not least, my special thanks go to my parents and my friends, withouttheir encouragement my dream of pursuing this study would not have been possible

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ABSTRACTThis study has been conducted to investigate difficulties which both the ESPteachers and the learners at Hanoi College of Economics and Technology have toface during their teaching and learning Accounting vocabulary of ESP course.

The subjects of the study are six ESP teachers and fifty second-year students ofAccounting major The data have been collected by a combination of quantitative andqualitative methods, including the use of questionnaires and informal interviews Thestudy confirms that both the ESP teachers and the learners face difficulties in teachingand learning ESP vocabulary There are three main problems existing in the ESPvocabulary teaching and learning process: (i) teachers’ lack ESP knowledge andvarious teaching techniques; (ii) students’ traditional and passive vocabulary learningstrategies and their limited GE vocabulary and (iii) large-sized classes

Based on the findings, some recommendations have been proposed ESPteachers should improve their ESP knowledge, apply flexible and various techniques

in teaching ESP vocabulary Students should enhance their GE knowledge anddevelop effective strategies of vocabulary learning Finally, the size of classes should

be reduced

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Declaration - i

Acknowledgements - ii

Abstract - iii

Table of contents - iv

List of abbreviations - vii

List of charts and tables - viii

List of figures - ix

PART I: INTRODUCTION - 1

1 Statement of the problem - 1

2 Aims of the study - 2

3 Research questions - 2

4 Scope of the study - 2

5 Methods of the study - 2

6 Design of the study - 2

PART II: DEVELOPMENT - 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW - 4

1.1 Overview of ESP - 4

1.1.1 Definition of ESP - 4

1.1.2 Classification of ESP - 5

1.1.3 Characteristics of ESP - 7

1.2 ESP Vocabulary - 9

1.2.1 Definition of ESP vocabulary - 9

1.2.2 Terminology - 9

iv

1.2.2.1 Definition of terminology - 9

1.2.2.2 Features of terminology - 10

1.3 Teaching and learning ESP vocabulary - 10

1.3.1 Teaching ESP vocabulary - 10

1.3.1.1 Dudley-Evans and St John’s viewpoint - 10

1.3.1.2 Hutchinson and Waters’s viewpoint - 11

1.3.2 Learning ESP vocabulary - 12

1.4 Roles of ESP teachers - 14

1.4.1 ESP practitioners as teachers - 14

1.4.2 ESP practitioners as course designers and material providers - 14

1.4.3 ESP practitioners as researchers - 15

1.4.4 ESP practitioners as collaborators - 15

1.4.5 ESP practitioners as evaluators - 15

1.5 Difficulties in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary - 16

1.5.1 Students at different levels - 16

1.5.2 Teachers’ lack of basic specialized knowledge - 16

1.5.3 Teaching and learning materials and conditions - 17

1.6 Previous studies on teaching and learning ESP vocabulary - 17

1.7 Summary - 18

CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY - 19

2.1 Context of the study - 19

2.1.1 Course book - 19

2.1.2 Students and their background - 20

2.1.3 Teachers and teaching methods - 21

2.2 Subjects of the study - 22

2.3 Data collection instruments - 22

2.3.1 Questionnaires - 22

2.3.2 Informal interviews for teachers - 24

2.4 Data collection procedure - 24

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, MAJOR FINDINGS AND SUGGESTED SOLUTIONS - 25

3.1 Data analysis - 25

3.1.1 Questionnaire for teachers - 25

3.1.2 Questionnaire for students - 33

3.2 Major findings - 41

3.2.1 Teachers’ difficulties in teaching ESP vocabulary - 41

3.2.1.1 Lack of specialized knowledge - 41

3.2.1.2 Lack of various teaching techniques - 41

3.2.2 Students’ difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary - 41

3.2.2.1 Lack of effective strategies for learning ESP vocabulary - 41

3.2.2.2 Lack of GE vocabulary - 42

3.2.3 The contextual problem - 43

3.3 Suggested solutions - 43

3.3.1 Solutions to teaching ESP vocabulary - 43

3.3.1.1 Improving the teachers’ ESP knowledge - 43

3.3.1.2 Improving teacher's methodology and techniques in teaching vocabulary - 44

3.3.2 Solutions to learning ESP vocabulary - 45

3.3.2.1 Enhancing the necessary GE knowledge - 45

vi

3.3.2.2 Developing effective strategies of vocabulary learning - 45

3.3.3 Solutions to the contextual problem - 46

PART III: CONCLUSION - 47

1 Summary of the findings and solutions - 47

2 Limitations of the study - 48

3 Suggestions for further research - 48

REFERENCES - 49 APPENDICES - I Appendix 1 - I Appendix 2 - IV

English for Specific Purposes

English for Business and Economics

English for Social Science

English for Science and Technology

English for Academic Purposes

English for Occupational Purposes

English for General Purposes

LISTS OF CHARTS AND TABLESChart 1: Teachers’ attitudes towards teaching ESP vocabulary in the course bookChart 2: Teachers’ evaluation about students’ learning ESP vocabulary

Chart 3: Teachers’ difficulties in teaching ESP vocabulary

Chart 4: Teachers’ techniques in presenting new words

Chart 5: Teachers’ recommendations to overcome your difficulties in teaching ESP vocabulary

Chart 6: Students’ English competence

Chart 7: The purposes of learning ESP vocabulary

Chart 8: Students’ difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary in the course book

Chart 9: Problems have influenced students’ motivation and interest

Chart 10: Students’ solutions when meeting a new word

Table 1: The purposes of teaching ESP vocabulary

Table 2: Teachers’ ways to ask students to practice vocabulary

Table 3: Teachers’ frequency of consolidation activities

Table 4: The students’ difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary

Table 5: Students’ ways of learning new ESP words

Table 6: Students’ favourite ways of new lexical item explanation

LISTS OF FIGURES

Figure 1: ESP Classification by experience (Robinson, 1991, cited in Dudley-Evans

and St John, 1998:6)

Figure 2: Types of ESP (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 16)

Figure 3: ESP Classification by professional area (Dudley-Evans and St John,1998:6)

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PART I: INTRODUCTION

1 Statement of the problem

English has nowadays become the language of international communication As Phillipson points out,

English has a dominant position in science, technology, medicine, and computers;

in research, books, periodicals, and software; in transnational business, trade, shipping, and aviation; in diplomacy and international organizations; in mass media entertainment, news agencies, and journalism; in youth culture and sport; in education system, as the most widely learnt foreign language.

Phillipson (1992: 6)

Therefore, students have more opportunities to build up their knowledge by reading avariety of materials in English Also, they have more chances to perform qualifiedwork abroad Obviously, in order to do these activities, students need to have certainknowledge of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) vocabulary related to theirsubjects or fields This ESP vocabulary will help them adjust to their workingenvironment and meet requirements of their future jobs

Vocabulary is an inseparable part of any teaching syllabus However, “Teaching vocabulary especially in ESP course is becoming a challenge for English Language Teachers” (Xhaferi, 2010: 231) Working as ESP teachers at Hanoi College of

Economics and Technology (HCET), my colleagues and I face many difficulties inteaching ESP vocabulary, such as lack of specialized knowledge and terminologies.Also, learning ESP vocabulary is a very difficult task for our second-year students ofAccounting They have limited knowledge of vocabulary and English grammar They

do not actively study new words and build up their vocabulary Their poorvocabulary results in their bad results each term

Realising above problems, the teachers of English of HCET want to do something tochange the ways of teaching and learning vocabulary in order to improve thestudents’ learning effectiveness to help them succeed in their future jobs Therefore,

I have decided to conduct a research to find out main difficulties in teaching andlearning English vocabulary of accounting at HCET Then, I would like to suggestsome solutions to overcome these difficulties.

2 Aims of the study

The study is aimed at finding difficulties that ESP teachers and learners at HCET arefacing in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary and suggesting some solutions toteaching and learning ESP vocabulary

3 Research questions

1 What difficulties do HCET’s teachers have in teaching ESP vocabulary?

2 What major difficulties do accounting students face in learning ESP vocabulary

at HCET?

3 What are solutions to improving Accounting English vocabulary teaching and learning at HCET?

4 Scope of the study

The study has limited itself to the investigation of difficulties in teaching and learningESP vocabulary in the course book “English for Finance” for the students who major

in Accounting at Hanoi College of Economics and Technology The suggestedsolutions are also provided to help improve teaching and learning of ESP vocabulary

at HCET

5 Methods of the study

The research is carried out by using both qualitative and quantitative methods Thedata collection instruments are survey questionnaires and informal interviews Thequestionnaires are designed for the teachers and students to get information on thedifficulties they have in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary The informalinterview is designed for teachers to get more information to support the study andsolutions to these problems

6 Design of the study

The study includes three parts:

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Part one is the Introduction of the study, which states the problem, the researchquestions, aims, scope, methods and the design of the whole paper.

Part two is the Development, which consists of three chapters Chapter one presents the theoretical background related to the topic Chapter two describes the context and the methodology of the study in detail Chapter three includes data analysis, findings

and suggested solutions for better teaching and learning ESP vocabulary at HCET

Part three is the Conclusion, which summarizes major findings of the investigation,provides suggested solutions, limitations and suggestions for further studies

PART II: DEVELOPMENTCHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, the author addresses some theoretical issues, such as overview ofESP, ESP vocabulary, teaching and learning ESP vocabulary, roles of ESP teachersand difficulties in teaching ESP vocabulary

1.1 Overview of ESP

1.1.1 Definition of ESP

ESP, which stands for “English for Specific Purposes”, has become an essential part

in “the Teaching of English as a Foreign or Second Language movement” (Howatt,

1984 cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 1) To understand the term ESPcorrectly, we will ponder on certain following clarifications There have been a lot ofattempts to define ESP

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19) define ESP as “…an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learners’ reason for learning” They confirm that ESP must be seen as an approach not as a

product ESP is neither a particular kind of language or methodology, nor includes aparticular type of teaching material Teaching ESP does not mean teaching a specialform of the language It is an approach to language teaching, which is based onspecific and apparent learners’ needs and interests

Strevens (1988: 1) states: “ESP is a particular cause of the general category of

special purpose language teaching" Robinson’s definition of ESP (1991: 3) is based

on two criteria: 1) ESP is normally ‘goal-directed’, and 2) ESP courses develop from

a needs analysis which aims to specify what exactly it is that students have to dothrough the medium of English, and a number of characteristics which explain that

ESP courses are generally constrained by a “limited time period” in which their objectives have to be achieved and are taught to “adults” in

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“homogenous classes” in terms of the work or specialist studies that students are

involved in (cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 3)

Munby (1978: 2) says that ESP courses are those of which the syllabus and materials

must be designed and determined on the base of the prior analysis of the

communication needs of the learner Learners usually have different needs and

interests, which would have an important influence on their motivation and attitude to

learn

The above definitions stated at different time periods by different authors obviously

show that the growth of ESP is a combination of the expansion of demand for English

to suit particular needs and developments in the fields of linguistics and educational

psychology (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:19) In other words, any ESP course must

be based on learners’ needs

1.1.2 Classification of ESP

There are many types of ESP, which are classified in different ways Traditionally,

ESP can be divided into two main groups according to when they take place: English

for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP)

Robinson (1991) shows the distinction between these two areas in the following tree

diagram

Pre-experience

Pre-study EOP Simultaneous/ in-service

Post-experience In-study

ESP

For study in a specific discipline Post-study

EEP/EAP

Independent

Figure 1: ESP Classification by experience

(Robinson, 1991, cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:6)

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Kennedy and Bolitho define the two types of ESP:

English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) is taught in a situation in which learners

need to use English as a part of their work or profession Meanwhile, English for

Academic Purposes (EAP) is taught generally within educational institutions to

students needing English in their studies.

Kennedy and Bolitho (1984: 4)

From the above diagram, we can see that the ESP course depends on whether it can

be classified as EOP or EAP This division of ESP is vital because “they will affect

the degree of specificity that is appropriate to the course” (Dudley-Evans and St

John, 1998:6) However, Hutchinson and Water (1987: 16) do note that it is not “a

clear-cut distinction” because people can work and study at the same time, “it is also

likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study

environment will be used later when the student takes up, or returns a job".

In “the Tree of ELT” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:16), ESP is broken down into

three branches: English for Science and Technology (EST), English for Business and

Economics (EBE), and English for Social Studies (ESS) Each of these subject areas

is further divided into two sub-branches: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and

English for Occupational Purposes (EOP) An example of EOP for the EBE branch is

“English for Secretaries” whereas an example of EAP for the EBE branch is “English

for Economics”

ESP

English English English English English English

Medical Techini Econo- Secreta Psychol Teaching Study -cians mics -ries -ogy

Figure 2: Types of ESP (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 16)

Another division of ESP divides EAP and EOP according to “discipline or

professional area” in the following way:

English for Specific Purposes

English for Academic Purposes English for Occupational Purposes

English English English English

English for English for

Professional Purposes Vocational Purposes

(Academic) (Academic) (Academic) Management

Science & Medical Legal Finance and

Technology Purposes Purposes Economics

English English Pre- Vocation For For Vocation- -al Medical Business al English Purposes Purposes English

Figure 3: ESP Classification by professional area (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:6)

From figure 3, it is obvious that ESP which is taught to students majoring in

Accounting at Hanoi College of Economics and Technology belongs to English for

Management Finance and Economics and it is a type of English for Academic

Purposes

In brief, various types of ESP are like an overall picture to help ESP teachers choose

teaching materials and classroom activities, design or/and adapt an appropriate ESP

course for their target students

1.1.3 Characteristics of ESP

Strevens (1988) makes a distinction between four “absolute characteristics” and two

“variable characteristics” of ESP He distinguishes two kinds of characteristics.

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* Absolute characteristics:

- ESP is designed to meet specified needs of the learners;

- ESP is related in content (that is in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines,

semantics, occupations and activities;

- ESP is centred on the language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics and so on, and analysis of the discourse;

- ESP is in contrast with “General English”.

* Variable characteristics:

- ESP may be restricted as to the learning skills to be learned (for example reading only);

- ESP may not be taught according to any pre-ordained methodology.

(cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 3)

Then, ten years later, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 4-5) identified ESP with three

absolute characteristics and four variable characteristics.

* Absolute characteristics:

- ESP is designed to meet specific needs of learners;

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

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

* Variable characteristics:

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

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

- ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation IT could, however, be used for learners at secondary school levels;

- ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners.

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Thus, the absolute and variable characteristics of ESP determine what ESP is andwhat ESP is not ESP should be seen as simple as an “approach” to teaching, based onthe analysis of learners’ needs and their own personal knowledge of using English forreal communication.

1.2 ESP vocabulary

1.2.1 Definition of ESP vocabulary

Ur (1996) states:

Vocabulary is the words we teach in the foreign language However, a new item

of vocabulary may be more than a single word: a compound of two or three words

or multi-word idioms.

Ur (1996: 60)

In other words, vocabulary is the total number of all the words that a languagepossesses, including a single word or multi-word idioms whose meaning can beunderstood in the sentence, or in the context

English vocabulary, in general, includes grammatical words, basic lexical words and

auxiliaries In addition, “special lexical items appear in most professions, and every field has special vocabulary to cover abstract concepts” (Hatch and Brown, 1995:

312) Nation (2001: 198) defines ESP vocabulary as a word or a group of words used

as a special lexical unit in a specific field with specific meaning to the field

1.2.2 Terminology

1.2.2.1 Definition of terminology

Linguists have come up with various definitions of terminology In Longman Dictionary of Applied Linguistics (1985: 290), terminology is defined as “the special lexical which occur in a particular discipline” Cabré (1999) insists:

Terminology is not an end itself, but addresses social needs and attempts to optimize communication among specialists and professionals by providing assistance either directly

or to translator or to committees concerned with the standardization of a language.

Cabré (1999: 10-12)

Meanwhile, Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1985) says:

Terminology, which is understood as a special linguistic unit of a language consists of word and fixed phrase that provide definitions of objectives that belong to a particular scientific area.

Nguyễn Thiện Giáp (1985: 308)

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, terminology is defined as the study of termsand their use Terms are words and compound words that are used in a specializedfield or a branch of study

In brief, unlike ordinary words, terminology or a set of terms are regarded asscientific words and each term denotes a concept in a particular field such aseconomics, biology, chemistry, and so on

An accurate term should not make the reader misunderstand the concept it expresses

with another The second is systematization This means terminology of a specific

profession should include terms that are closely related to each other and reflect asystem of concepts of the profession The last characteristic of terminology is

internationality With respect to this feature, terminology denotes common scientific

concepts shared and equally understood by speakers of different countries anddifferent cultures

1.3 Teaching and learning ESP vocabulary

1.3.1 Teaching ESP vocabulary

1.3.1.1 Dudley-Evans and St John’s viewpoint

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Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 83) state that teaching vocabulary in ESP hassimilar principles to teaching English for General Purposes (EGP) The onlydistinction that should be made is between the vocabulary for comprehension and theone for production They explain that in comprehension, the meaning is deducedfrom the context and the structure of the actual word Meanwhile, for productionpurposes, storage and retrieval are the most important.

Also, in the book named “Developments in ESP: A multi-disciplinary approach”,

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 83) point out that the ESP teacher is not responsiblefor teaching technical vocabulary Instead, he/ she should check if learners haveunderstood technical vocabulary that appears as carrier content for an exercise Fromour understanding, they mean that ESP teachers should make the learners understandvocabulary in context, not just look at individual words Understanding and beingable to use the vocabulary and structures that they learn in a meaning full contextreinforces what is taught and increases their motivation

A suitable approach for teaching ESP vocabulary is the lexical approach Thisapproach is very useful in teaching ESP (Kavaliauskienë and Janulevièienë, 2000).Most learners equate “vocabulary” with “words”, and there is a tendency amonglearners to translate any professional text word-for-word, i.e., they usually try tosimplify most lexical phrases to separate words This ESP teaching methodology isalso mentioned by Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) They say:

… [W]hen learners have a limited need for English in certain predictable situations, the learning of key lexical phrases may provide a very quick road to the proficiency required of that situation…

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 86)

1.3.1.2 Hutchinson and Waters’s viewpoint

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 53), “All courses are based on a perceived need of some sort” and “There is always an identifiable need of some sorts” Moreover, “…it is not so much the nature of the need which distinguishes

the ESP from the General course but rather the awareness of a need” to

communicate in English These sentences mean that the ESP courses must be based

on the learners’ needs and the more important thing is the target needs what the

learner needs to do in the target situation, including “necessities”, “lacks” and

“wants” Necessities is understood as “…what the learner needs to know in order to function effectively in the target situation” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987: 55)

However, it is not enough An ESP teacher needs to know learners’ lacks and wants

to design a suitable ESP course because these aspects influence learners’ motivationthat is highly important in the learning and teaching process

In short, when teachers make a decision on what ESP vocabulary to teach, theyshould take the target needs into consideration Accordingly, the ESP teacher plays animportant role in teaching and learning vocabulary as Gairns and Redman (1986) say:

If the student does not perceive the vocabulary input to be useful it will be difficult to engage his interest and so effective learning of everything else will also be reduced.

Gairns and Redman (1986: 60)

1.3.2 Learning ESP vocabulary

Vocabulary is generally thought to be one of the most important language elements

Wilkins (1972: 111-112) writes, “ while without grammar very little can be conveyed, without vocabulary nothing can be conveyed” Without sufficient

vocabulary people cannot understand others or express their own ideas McCarthy(1990) points out:

No matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how successfully the sounds of L2 are mastered, without words to express a wider range of meanings, communication in an L2 just cannot happen in any meaningful way.

McCarthy (1990: viii)

Obviously, the importance of vocabulary cannot be deniable

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However, from our teaching experience we can say that students face difficultieswhile learning new English words, especially ESP words because they are low-frequency words and are not encountered very often Schmitt (2000) emphasizes:

The object of vocabulary learning is to transfer lexical information from term memory, where it resides during the process of manipulating language, to permanent long-term memory.

short-Schmitt (2000: 131)

ESP courses are designed around students’ needs based on their field of study Thegoal is to strengthen students’ proficiency and help them to get ready to cope witheveryday situations and deal with professionals in many fields such as: Business,engineering, medicine, education, IT, etc In order to develop an ability to learn newvocabulary, especially technical vocabulary in learning ESP, students should becomeaware of the importance of language learning strategies

In his research into vocabulary teaching and learning, Nation (2001: 133-134) hasbroached four strands which applied to all aspects of language in general and tovocabulary learning in particular The first is “learning from meaning-focused input”.This strand includes learning vocabulary from listening and reading The learners ofEnglish should have known ninety-eight percent of the occurring words, and the restwill be conjectured from the contexts and will not prevent ‘comprehension of the

text’ The second is “deliberate learning” This strand (form-focused instruction,

language-focused learning or language study) comprises ‘paying deliberate attention

to language features such as sounds, spelling, vocabulary, grammar, or discourse thatare presented out of context’ The clearest technique is ‘learning new vocabulary bymemorizing their first language translation’ The third is “learning from meaning-focused output” This strand consists of learning vocabulary ‘through speaking andwriting where the learners’ main attention is on communication messages’ Using the

‘productive skills as sources of vocabulary learning’ can enhance learning And the

last strand is “fluency development” The fluency development strand of a language

course

intends to assist learners in making ‘the best use of what they already know’ Fluencymay be considered as related to each of the four language skills with fluencyrequiring to be developed individually in each of these skills.

1.4 Roles of ESP teachers

The fact that ESP words are more complex than general words requires learners tospend more time learning them Besides, in the learning process, it is obviously thatlearners must be helped by the teacher to achieve their goals Hutchinson and Waters(1987: 157) state that an ESP teacher will have to deal with needs analysis, syllabusdesign, materials writing or adaptation and evaluation Nunan (1988) also finds that

an ESP teacher is considered as an instructor, a manager, a counselor, a facilitator, anorganizer, a curriculum developer, a material writer, a material writer and even afriend Thus, we can see that the ESP teacher’s work involves much more thanteaching Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 13) use the term “practitioner” rather than

“teacher” Also, according to them, an ESP practitioner can have several roles

1.4.1 ESP practitioners as teachers

In the learning process, teachers must help learners achieve their goals However, theteacher is not “the primary knower” of carrier content of the material The students inthis course may know more about content than the teacher Therefore, the teacher hasopportunity to draw on students’ knowledge of the content in order to generatecommunication in the classroom Obviously, it is vital that teachers need a reasonableunderstanding of the topic before teaching, so that they can start and lead an introductorydiscussion drawing on students’ understanding of what is being taught Besides, teachersalso have to provide the students with anxiety-free atmosphere and to create favorableenvironment in which students are able to practice memorizing new words Therefore,ESP teachers need to have considerable flexibility, be willing to listen to learners, take

an interest in the disciplines or professional activities which the students are involved in.Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 13-14)

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1.4.2 ESP practitioners as course designers and material providers

ESP practitioners often have to plan the course they teach and provide the materials for

it However, in fact, it is rarely possible to use a particular textbook without the need forsupplemental materials and sometimes there is no really suitable published material forthe identified needs Therefore, ESP teachers have to work as providers of materials.This role involves choosing suitable published material, adapting material if it is notsuitable, or even writing material Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 14-15)

1.4.3 ESP practitioners as researchers

In order to succeed in ESP teaching, ESP teachers need to be able to carry outresearch to find out ESP learners’ particular interests and needs The reason is thatthe findings of the research will result in a needs analysis, so that ESP teachers candesign a course more reasonably, select suitable material and write teaching material.Moreover, ESP teachers need to conduct research to identify and understand thediscourse of the texts what learners use Then they can choose the suitable teachingmethod (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 15)

1.4.4 ESP practitioners as collaborators

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 15-16) also see an ESP teacher as a collaborator Thismay involve cooperation in which ESP teachers find out about the subject syllabus in anacademic context or task the students have to carry out in their professional environment

In addition, it may involve specific collaboration when there is some integration betweenspecialist studies or activities and the language Even the collaboration might involve alanguage teacher and a business trainer working together to teach both the skills and thelanguage related to business communication

1.4.5 ESP practitioners as evaluators

The ESP practitioner is often involved in various types of evaluation, including the testing of students and the evaluation of courses and teaching material Tests are conducted to assess how much learners have gained from a course or if students have the required

language and skills to undertake a particular course or career Also, the evaluation ofcourse design and teaching materials should be done while the course is being taught, atthe end of the course, and after the course has finished By this way, ESP teachers willhave suitable changes for a better course then (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 16-17)

In short, depending on the type of syllabus and course, the teaching and learningenvironment, etc the roles of an ESP teacher must be flexible and variable

1.5 Difficulties in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary

Robinson (1991) says that ESP teachers may face many problems in a number of

aspects of ESP teaching The difficulties come from (i) students, (ii) teachers themselves, (iii) teaching materials and other teaching and learning conditions.

1.5.1 Students at different levels

Teachers have problems in teaching ESP to students of different languagebackground In other words, learners have different levels of comprehension of thesame text because they start from different positions Moreover, Dudley-Evans and StJohn (1998) states:

ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners.

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998:5)

However, from our teaching experience, many students do not acquire that level oflanguage proficiency when they take ESP course, though they have taken part inGeneral English course before As a result, ESP learners are not motivated enough tolearn ESP

1.5.2 Teachers’ difficulties

Regarding to teachers themselves, we agree with Strevens (1973: 223) who claims:

“…learners who know scientific field may have little difficulty with technical words; but a teacher who doesn’t may have a great deal” According to Hutchison and Waters (1987:163), ESP teachers “must know something about the subject

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matters of ESP materials” It means that ESP teachers need to acquire the basic

knowledge of the subject matter Robinson (1980:83) also mentions the problem of

ESP teachers as “lack of sufficient preparation time”.

Moreover, the major problem that ESP teachers deal with is teaching method

Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 4) state, “all ESP teaching should reflect the methodology of the disciplines and professions it serves” and “interaction between the ESP teacher and learners may be very different from that in general English class” It means that “ESP teaching has its own methodology”, which must be different from that of general English teaching Teaching methodology should be “a learning-centred approach” and “the ESP teacher should not become a teacher of the subject matter, but rather an interested student of the subject matter” (Hutchison

and Waters, 1987:163) Learners’ needs should be specified at the beginning of theESP course and the intensive and efficient teaching of grammar, vocabulary,translation, etc must be scientifically grounded and concentrate only on these items

1.5.3 Teaching and learning materials and conditions

Another aspect connected with difficulties in teaching ESP is teaching and learning

materials According to Hutchinson and Waters, “the ESP syllabus is usually derived from a detailed analysis of the language features of the target situation” (Hutchinson

and Waters, 1987: 92) Some other teaching and learning conditions may bechallenges for both teachers and students such as the class size, teaching and learningequipment, psychological factors, etc Teachers have problems in teaching in large-sized classes There is a fact that a large-sized class has negative impacts on bothteaching and learning, not only in EGP but also ESP courses A large-sized classreduces students’ participation, and leads to lower motivation

1.6 Previous studies on teaching and learning ESP vocabulary

Studies on teaching and learning ESP vocabulary are carried out by variousresearchers from different countries Their aims are to find out difficulties in

teaching and learning ESP vocabulary, methods or strategies of teachers and students

in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary

In reference to teaching and learning ESP, the study “Teaching and learning ESPvocabulary” by Brikena Xhaferi (2008) at South East European University(Macedonia) points out that an ESP course is a new trend in English LanguageTeaching and they include technical English, scientific English, English for medicalprofessionals, etc His paper attempts to add to the existing studies on the use ofvocabulary learning strategies in learning ESP vocabulary and students shouldbecome aware of the importance of language learning strategies and get trained to usethem appropriately

In the context of Vietnamese universities, there have been some studies on difficulties

in teaching ESP vocabulary to students at universities For example, Võ Mai ĐỗQuyên (2008) at Thanh Hoa Teachers’ Training School conducted the study

“Difficulties in teaching vocabulary to students of information technology at ThanhHoa Teachers’ Training School and some solutions” to identify the main problems ofteaching and learning ESP vocabulary of both teachers and students Based on thestudy, the researcher gives some suggestions to help the teachers and the students atThanh Hoa Teacher’s Training School overcome the difficulties to get the bestresults

1.7 Summary

To conclude, this chapter has presented a brief review of ESP, including an overview

of ESP, ESP vocabulary, teaching and learning ESP vocabulary, roles of ESPteachers and difficulties in teaching ESP vocabulary This theoretical review isnecessary for the next chapters of methodology and data analysis

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CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGYThis chapter describes in detail the context and the method of the study The context

is a description of the course book; the students and their background; the teachersand teaching method In the method of the study, research questions, participants,data collection instruments, data collection procedure, data analysis are alsopresented

2.1 Context of the study

2.1.1 Course book

English is a compulsory subject for students of all departments at HCET The Englishcourse is composed of two parts: General English (GE) and English for SpecificPurposes (ESP) The GE is taught in the first two terms with the course book “NewHeadway” by Liz and John Soars, Oxford University Express, 2011 In this part, themajor aims are to develop students’ basic communicative skills: speaking, listening,reading and writing The GE also a stepping-stone for students to proceed the ESPcourse

The ESP course is introduced in the third term with the aim to provide students with anumber of technical terms and develop students’ reading comprehension andtranslation so that they are able to use English for their study and future careers, such

as reading books and materials related to their major The course book chosen forstudents of Accounting Faculty at HCET is “English for Finance” This course book

is written by teachers of the English Faculty of Academy of Finance (AOF) for thesecond-year non-English-major students and published by the Finance PublishingHouse It consists of 42 units and it is also included in the curriculum of teaching andlearning English at AOF

There are different topics discussed in this course book, such as economics, moneyand banking, finance, accounting and auditing, financial analysis, marketing andinternational business Each unit includes 5 parts: The reading text, comprehension

questions, language focus, word study and vocabulary In part I, the reading textscontain from 300 to 500 words on particular financial topics These texts often dealwith the conceptions of the topics For example, the first unit is about economicsincluding: What economics is, what the fields and subfields of economics are Part II,which has from 5 to 10 questions related to the reading text, is designed to helpstudents understand the content of the text Part III, Language focus, presentsgrammar issues in both theory and practice Part IV and part V are about vocabulary.Part IV focuses on vocabulary practice exercises which has a variety of exercisessuch as: blank-filling, matching, finding the opposites, word-formation, etc Theseones help students revise the content and vocabulary as well Part V, which isdesigned at the end of each unit, is a list of vocabulary items and their explanations inEnglish and then meanings in Vietnamese.

The syllabus consists of 60 periods of 45 minutes and is delivered within 10 weeks inthe third term, covering 20 first units The teachers and the students meet twice aweek, each time for three-45 minutes periods From my own experience and otherteachers’ ideas, the topics mentioned in this course book are interesting and practical.However, the number of exercises is limited and language skills like listening,speaking and writing are not covered in this course book Therefore, it cannot helpstudents improve their listening, speaking, or writing except for readingcomprehension

2.1.2 Students and their background

In fact, there are five second-year Accounting-major classes with students aged from

19 to 23 Most of them have finished three-year or seven-year English curriculum atsecondary and high schools before entering HCET

However, in terms of English proficiency, there is no much difference betweengroups of students in each class Most are at the elementary level Moreover, thelearning style of the students at HCET is quite dependent on the teachers In other

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words, they are really “passive” in learning Most of them experienced the traditionalmethod of English teaching, the “Grammar-translation method”, at high schools,which emphasizes the learning of the grammar rules of the language, not theacquisition of language skills Their vocabulary learning methods are quite traditionalsuch as using a wordlist or writing a word many times to remember it.

2.1.3 Teachers and teaching methods

English teachers have been working at the English Faculty at HCET, aged from 28 to

55 All of them graduated from universities of foreign languages such as University

of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University and HanoiUniversity Most of them have got their Master degrees in Vietnam Two teachers aretaking MA courses at University of Languages and International Studies, VietnamNational University All of them have classes in GE and ESP None of them,however, has been trained in teaching ESP Therefore, they are facing manydifficulties in teaching ESP such as lack of the specialized knowledge, the choice ofappropriate teaching materials and methodologies seem to be major concerns

The common method of ESP teaching is the traditional teacher-centered one Inclasses, teachers play a key role and speak most of the time They explain new words,new structures and even translate the text For most teachers, teaching vocabularyinvolves writing new words on the board, giving Vietnamese meanings, getting theclass to repeat words in chorus, asking some of the students to read words aloud andmake sentences with each word Meanwhile, the students often listen and take notespassively They raise questions only when they do not know Vietnamese meanings ofnew words or new structures It is apparent that student-centered approach has notbeen widely used in teaching English at HCET

As a result, the vocabulary activities are not interesting and motivating enough andstudents’ vocabulary competence is not improved We should apply more

appropriate teaching techniques to improve the situation of teaching ESP vocabulary

at HCET

2.2 Subjects of the study

This study is conducted with the participation of 6 out of 7 teachers of English,including 3 teachers who are teaching Accounting English and 50 second-yearstudents from Faculty of Accounting at HCET These 6 teachers of English arechosen for the investigation as all of them have been teaching ESP and have at least 3years’ experience in teaching ESP They are 5 females and 1 male The reason forchoosing these 50 students is that only the second-year students can learn ESP afterthey finish GE course in the first year They are randomly chosen from fiveaccounting classes at HCET, aged from 19 to 23 Most of them are female

The number of participants is limited but in comparison with the total of 7 teacherswho are responsible for teaching English at HCET, it is not small at all Furthermore,

50 students are considered representatives for others because the level of students inall these five classes is not much different

2.3 Data collection instruments

In order to collect information for the study, the researcher uses survey questionnairesfor both teachers and students and informal interviews for the teachers

2.3.1 Questionnaires

According to Wisker (2001: 147), questionnaires are used to gather informationdirectly by asking people questions and using them as data for analysis They areoften used to collect information about attitudes, behaviours, activities, and responses

to events This method is chosen because it is easy to construct, extremely versatileand uniquely capable of gathering a huge amount of information in a short time(Dornyei, 2003: 9) To gain the data for the research, 2 questionnaires have beenadministered to the respondents One has been designed for the teachers and the otherfor the students The question items are both close-ended and open-ended so

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that the respondents have been able to give adequate answers The questions are asked inorder to find out challenges encountered by teachers and students in their teaching andlearning ESP vocabulary and their suggestions to overcome these difficulties.

Questionnaire for Teachers: The questionnaire designed for the teachers consists of sevenquestions It aims at investigating the teachers’ attitude, perceptions of teaching ESPvocabulary; challenges for their second-year students; their methods and techniques inteaching ESP vocabulary and their suggestions to improve ESP vocabulary teaching Thequestionnaire is written in English is provided in appendix 1

Questionnaire for Students: The questionnaire designed for the students consists ofeight questions It aims at finding out students’ attitude towards vocabulary learning,difficulties in ESP vocabulary learning, common ways in learning vocabulary as well

as their comments on their teachers’ teaching techniques and their expectation ofimproving their vocabulary learning This questionnaire is written in both English andVietnamese to make sure that the students fully understand the questions beforegiving their answers The total number of survey questionnaires for the students is 50and it is presented in appendix 2

2.3.2 Informal interviews for teachers

According to McDonough, J and S McDonough (2001: 182), “Interviews, of course, are just another way of asking questions,… face-to-face interaction, rather than the questionnaire format ” Hence, to reconfirm the teachers’ attitude, perceptions of teaching Accounting English vocabulary, their students’ difficulties in learning ESP

vocabulary and their recommendations to improve ESP vocabulary teaching, theinformal interview is designed with the questions from the survey questionnaire forteachers The researcher has made interviews with three ESP teachers, who areteaching Accounting English and their answers are really useful for the study

2.4 Data collection procedure

In order to collect the data for the analysis, the questionnaire has been delivered to eachteacher individually to ensure that they have given their own ideas and have not been

affected by their colleagues The informal interviews with three teachers ofAccounting English were recorded for later reference.

With regards to the students, the questionnaires have been delivered to 50 studentsduring their class time They have also been given clear instructions for each question

so that they can respond appropriately to each one

Both teachers and students have been encouraged to answer truly and frankly,focusing on their perception to teaching and learning ESP vocabulary, theirchallenges in teaching and learning ESP vocabulary and solutions to the problems aswell I have answered to them that the research has been carried out to improve theirown ESP vocabulary teaching and learning, so all their personal information havebeen kept secret and used for research purposes only

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