Teachers linguistic and pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP vacabulary to the third year students of electronics engineering at ho chi minh universtiy of industry based in thanh hoa

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES **************************************** HOÀNG THỊ HẢI ĐƯỜNG TEACHERS’ LINGUISTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL CHALLENGES IN TEACHING ESP VOCABU

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************************************

HOÀNG THỊ HẢI ĐƯỜNG

TEACHERS’ LINGUISTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL

CHALLENGES IN TEACHING ESP VOCABULARY TO THE THIRD – YEAR STUDENTS OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY BASED IN

THANH HOA

(NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VỀ NGÔN NGỮ VÀ SƯ PHẠM TRONG VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN TỬ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH CƠ SỞ

THANH HÓA)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF

POST-GRADUATE STUDIES

****************************************

HOÀNG THỊ HẢI ĐƯỜNG

TEACHERS’ LINGUISTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL CHALLENGES IN TEACHING ESP VOCABULARY TO THE THIRD – YEAR STUDENTS OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF

INDUSTRY BASED IN THANH HOA

(NHỮNG KHÓ KHĂN VỀ NGÔN NGỮ VÀ SƯ PHẠM TRONG VIỆC DẠY TỪ VỰNG TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ BA CHUYÊN NGÀNH ĐIỆN TỬ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP THÀNH PHỐ HỒ CHÍ MINH CƠ SỞ

THANH HÓA)

MINOR M.A THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60 14 10

Supervisor: VŨ MAI TRANG, M.A

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Candidate’s statement ………i

Acknowledgements ……….ii

Abstract ……… …iii

Table of contents ………iv

List of abbreviations ……….vii

List of tables ………viii

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION ……… 1

1.1Rationale……….1

1.2 Aims of the study ……… 1

1.3 Research questions ……… 2

1.4 Scope of the study ………2

1.5 Methods of the study ………3

1.6.Design of the study ……… 3

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW ……… 4

2.1 An overview of ESP ……….4

2.1.1 The Concepts of ESP……… 4

2.2.1 Classification of ESP……… 4

2.2 Teaching ESP vocabulary……….4

2.2 1 What is ESP and EEE vocabulary……… 5

2.2.1.1 What is ESP vocabulary……… 5

2.2.1.2 What is EEE vocabulary………5

2.2.2 Important aspects of ESP vocabulary teaching……… 5

2.2.2.1 Word formation ……….5

2.2.2.2 Word - form ……… 6

2.2.2.3 Grammar………6

2.2.2.4 Aspects of meaning………6

2.2.2.5 Pronunciation and spelling……….7

2.3 Terminology……… 8

2.3.1 Definition of terminology………8

2.3.2 Characteristics of terminology……… 8

2 4 Methodology in vocabulary teaching……… 9 2.4.1 The grammar- translation method……… 9

2.4.2 Direct Method………10

2.4.3 The communicative approach (CLT)……… 10

2.4.4 Audio-lingual method………11

2.5 ESP teaching vocabulary challenges for teachers……… 11

2.5.1 The roles of ESP teachers……… 11

2.5.2 Teachers’ linguistic challenges in ESP vocabulary……… 13

2.5.3 Teachers’ pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP Vocabulary………… 14

2.6 Summary……… 15

CHAPTER 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY………16

3.1 The context of teaching and learning vocabulary at Ho Chi Minh university of industry……… 16

3.1.1 Brief introduction of Ho Chi Minh City University of industry based in Thanh Hoa……… …16

3.1.2 The teachers and teaching methods……… 16

3.1.3 The students and their background ……… 17

3.2 The course book……… 18

3.2.1 The textbook……… 18

3.2.2 Book content……….18

3.3 Methods and procedures ……… 19

3.3.1 Research questions ……… .19

3.3.2 The participants ………19

3.3.3 Data collection instruments ……… 19

3.3.4 Data collection procedure ………20

3.3.5 Data analysis ………21

3.4 Findings and discussion 21

3.4.1 The teachers’ questionnaire ……….21

3.4.1.1 The teachers’ linguistic challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary …… .21

3.4.1.2 The teachers’ pedagogical challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary ….23 3.4.1.3 The teachers’ personal view of sources of their challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary ……… 24

3.4.1.4 The teachers’ suggestions to improve their EEE vocabulary teaching……….26

3.4.2 Findings from the interviews and journal writings……… 27

3.4.2.1 The teachers’ linguistic challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary ……27

3.4.2.2 The teachers’ pedagogical challenges in teaching EEE vocabulary 30

3.4.2.3 The teachers’ suggestions to improve their EEE vocabulary teaching 31

CHAPTER 4: SOLUTIONS……….33

4.1 Ways of training EFL Teachers for ESP teaching……… 33

4.2 Improving teachers’ professional knowledge……….34

4.3 Improving teacher’s activities in teaching vocabulary……… 34

4.3.1 Sample activity 1: Guess the meaning……….….35

4.3.2 Sample activity 2: Brainstorming………35

4.3.3 Sample activity 3: Group-work ……… …… 35

4.4 Teaching word formation………37

CHAPTER 5: CONCLUSIONS……….39

5 1 Summary of the study………39

5 2 Limitations and suggestions for further studies ………40

REFERENCES ……… 41 APPENDICES ……… I APPENDIX 1 ……… I

APPENDIX 2 ……… IV

APPENDIX 3………VI

TEACHERS’ LINGUISTIC AND PEDAGOGICAL CHALLENGES IN TEACHING ESP VOCABULARY TO THE THIRD – YEAR STUDENTS OF ELECTRONICS ENGINEERING AT HO CHI MINH UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY BASED IN

In teaching English for Specific Purposes, however, no one argues that the scope of specialized vocabulary is a primary goal Up to now, teaching ESP, particularly teaching vocabulary, has still been far from satisfaction With many similar characteristics and a number of different features in comparison with General English, ESP is viewed as something hard to teach for language teachers.

In the context of Ho Chi Minh University of Industry ( HUI ) based in Thanh Hoaprovince, students are taught English as a compulsory subject In addition, students ofElectronic Engineering have to learn English for electronics at the beginning of the thirdacademic year In fact, with a short duration of 30 periods, one of the most important aims ofESP course for these students is achieving basic ESP vocabulary However, in reality, theteacher researcher has seen students have troubled during their English learning process In thefirst place, most of the students said that they had to deal with a wider range of unfamiliarwords and cope with their growing specialized vocabulary Consequently, it is hard for them

to study with their limited knowledge of vocabulary They often learn vocabulary passivelythrough their teachers‟ explanation There are also too many new words given in each lesson,too little time spent on memorizing and recycling those words

As a teacher of English for Electronics Engineering (EEE), the teacher herself finds out many difficulties during teaching vocabulary At first, in her opinion, the difficulties probably arise from the lack of specialized knowledge, which makes teachers fail to provide every reasonable explanation Moreover, the target students at HUI based in Thanh Hoa province are at lower levels

in comparison with those at colleges or universities on the ground of needs, interest andmotivation In addition, it is difficult for teachers to understand a lot of terminology,complicated structures and countless expressions.

Facing this problem, the teacher researcher of English of HUI made an attempt to do something to change the ways of teaching and learning vocabulary in order to improve the students' learning effectiveness to help them succeed in their future job In this study, therefore, the

teacher researcher has conducted a research namely: “Teachers’ linguistic and pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP vocabulary to the third-year students of Electronics Engineering

at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry based in Thanh Hoa province”.

1.2.Aims of the study

The study aimed at:

- Giving a brief overview about ESP, vocabulary and its relevance in teaching English for Electronics Engineering at HUI

- Finding out Teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogical challenges that ESP teachers at HUIare facing in teaching English vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering

- Suggesting some solutions to the teaching of vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering effectively

1.4 Scope of the study

Dealing with all types of teaching ESP vocabulary is too large for studying this size Thus,this study focuses on investigating linguistic and pedagogy challenges that the teacherencounters in teaching ESP vocabulary to students of the third-year students of ElectronicsEngineering at Ho Chi Minh University of Industry based in Thanh Hoa province

Therefore, proper teaching methods can be adopted to help them overcome the difficulties.The solutions are also provided to help to improve teaching and learning English in general,teaching and learning English Electronic vocabulary in particular at HUI

1.5 Methods of the study

In order to achieve the aims mentioned above, the study was designed to use varieties

of methods including interview, questionnaire and teaching journal analysis The datawere recorded both formally and informally The survey questionnaire to teachers is to getmore information to support the study

1.6 Design of the study

The thesis consists of five chapters, with a list of references, and appendices

Chapter I: “Introduction”, presents the rationale, objectives, research questions, scope

as well as methods of the study.

Chapter II: “Literature review”, deals with the theoretical background for the study The focus

of this chapter is vocabulary and ESP vocabulary, some important aspects of ESP vocabulary teaching, some techniques currently used in teaching vocabulary and ESP vocabulary.

Chapter III: “Methodology”, is the main part of the study It gives a brief introduction

on the context of teaching ESP vocabulary at HUI, the data collection methods and

procedures In addition, the data will be analyzed and the findings will reveal thedifficulties in teaching ESP vocabulary to the third-year students at HUI Some suggestions

to improve the teaching of ESP vocabulary will be given in this chapter

Chapter IV: „Solution”, deals with ways to improving the teaching ESP vocabulary at HUI.

Chapter V: “Conclusions”, summarizes the findings, refers to some limitations of the

study, and offers suggestions for further studies.

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 An overview of ESP and English of Electronics Engineering

2.1.1 The Concepts of ESP

2.1.2 Classification of ESP

2.2 Teaching ESP vocabulary

2.2.1 What is ESP and EEE vocabulary

2.2.1.1 What is ESP vocabulary

2.2.1.2 What is EEE vocabulary

2.2.2 Important aspects of ESP vocabulary teaching

2.2.2.1 Word formation

2.4 Methodology in vocabulary teaching

2.4.1 The Grammar- translation method

2.4.2 The Direct Method

2.4.3 The Audio-lingual method

2.4.4 The Communicative approach (CLT)

2.5 Teachers’ linguistic and pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP vocabulary

2.5.1 The roles of ESP teachers

2.5.2 Teachers’ linguistic challenges in ESP vocabulary

2.5.3 Teachers’ pedagogical challenges in teaching ESP vocabulary

2.6 Summary

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 3.1 The context of teaching and learning vocabulary at Ho Chi Minh University

of Industry

3.1.1 Brief introduction of Ho Chi Minh City University of Industry based in Thanh Hoa Province

3.1.2 Teachers and teaching methods

3.1.3 Students and their background

3.2 The course book

3.2.1 The textbook

After finishing the course of General English, the students are taught English for

Specific Purpose Students of Electronics learn the book “English for Electronics” which

was written by Eric H Glendinning &John Mc “English for Electronics” aims to providestudents with basic knowledge and skill to work in electronic environment

Actually, this book consists of 30 units, designed in harmonious combination with EEEtopics to enable students to develop both their language skills in EEE world, from low tohigher Clearly, each unit is divided into five parts, and each part lays a focus on grammar,function or vocabulary As a result, in each unit, students have more opportunities to learn anddevelop their knowledge in categories of grammar, vocabulary, communication skill, andpronunciation through practice activities of, reading, writing, and speaking.

values-The following unit structure is used throughout the book with some variation among 9 units:

1 Tuning-in : introducing the topic through picture description or fact discussion

2 Language study: revise structures and grammatical points necessary for students todeal with electronic documents in English i.e Actions in sequence, If sentences, Reduced timeclauses

3 Word study : developing students ‟knowledge of electronic terms, vocabulary use and word form, i.e Prefixes, Word pairs, Transitive verbs

4 Technical reading : providing practice through various kinds of tasks as well asexpanding students‟ vocabulary repertoire, i.e Understanding diagrams, Resistor values,Capacitor values, Diode codes

5 Writing : Provide practice in writing skills, i.e Describing diagrams, a process, a system It is very effective to work with this book as it provides students with a great deal of technical terms and develops their reading comprehension and writing electronic documents However, the teachers and students have found it difficult in teaching this course book because

of the following reasons

First, as each unit has five periods the students usually do not have enough time topractice in class Second, the vocabulary teaching integrated with other skills meaningthat no separate vocabulary lesson is provided Consequently, the teacher have to decidethemselves how to teach vocabulary, when and how much to teach as well Next, there are

a lot of difficult abbreviations and too many difficult and long terms in a task e.g R(1K)/

a one kilohm resistor: C (5-65PF)/a five-to-sixty-five-picofarad capacitor, BZX55C2V4./

a silicon zener diode which has 5% tolerance and 2,4 V zener voltage.

3.3 Methods and procedures

3.3.1 Research questions

The research is carried out with an attempt to find out the answers to the following questions:

- What are the main teachers‟ linguistic and pedagogical challenges experienced by teachers who are teaching ESP vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering at HUI?

- What solutions should be offered to help teachers to find out the effective ways to teach ESP vocabulary to students of Electronics Engineering at HUI?

3.3.2 The participants

This study was conducted with the participation of 10 English teachers and 3 EEEteachers‟ writing journals These 10 teachers of English at the college are chosen for theinvestigation as all of them have been teaching ESP They are 6 females and 4 males andhave at least 2 years‟ experience in teaching ESP

3.3.3 Data collection instruments

In order to collect the most exact information for the study, the three types ofinstruments were employed as follows:

Questionnaire

Interview

Journal writing

4.3.4 Data collection procedure

In order to collect the data for the analysis, the questionnaire was delivered to eachteacher individually to ensure that they would give their own ideas without being affected

by their colleagues After the teachers had finished their questionnaire, they wereinterviewed for further information in the questionnaire

After each lesson, three teachers were invited to write journals to reflect what happened

in class These teachers were asked to give careful explanation to each problem and wereencouraged to present their ideas truly and frankly

3.3.5 Data analysis