Using competence based approach in the development of a writing course for engineers at vietnam atomic energy institute

Hopefully, the paperwould investigate needed English written competences for engineers at VietnamAtomic Energy Institute and provide suggestions for the course components includingconten

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ THU TRANG

USING COMPETENCE-BASED APPROACH IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WRITING COURSE FOR ENGINEERS AT VIETNAM ATOMIC

ENERGY INSTITUTE (Sử dụng cách tiếp cận dựa trên năng lực để phát triển một

khóa học viết dành cho các kỹ sư tại Viện Năng lượngnguyên tử Việt Nam)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

HANOI – 2016

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-

GRADUATE STUDIES

PHẠM THỊ THU TRANG

USING COMPETENCE-BASED APPROACH IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF A WRITING COURSE FOR ENGINEERS AT VIETNAM ATOMIC

ENERGY INSTITUTE (Sử dụng cách tiếp cận dựa trên năng lực để phát triển một

khóa học viết dành cho các kỹ sư tại Viện Năng lượngnguyên tử Việt Nam)

M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60140111

Supervisor: Dr Dương Thu Mai

HANOI – 2016

I hereby certify that this thesis is entirely my own work I have provided fully documented references to the others‟ work The material in this thesis has not been submitted for assessment in any other formal course I also accept all the requirements of ULIS relating to the retention and use of M.A Graduation Thesis deposited in the library

Hanoi, 2016

Phạm Th Thu Trang

This thesis would not be fulfilled without the help of some people, and in someways, I would like to thank everyone who has taught me, inspired me, challenged me,and supported me throughout the realization of this thesis

I would like to express my deepest thanks to my beloved supervisor, DuongThu Mai, Ph.D, for her whole-hearted assistance, encouragement as well as herprofound guidance she gave me while I was doing my research

I would like to take this opportunity to express my gratitude to all lecturers inFaculty of Post-graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies,Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their interesting lectures which have inspired

me to conduct this thesis Besides, I would like to send my gratitute to the teachingexperts at Vietnam National University, Hanoi who took part in my interview andgave me orientation to edit the course guide

I would also like to express my thanks to the leaders and working learners atVietnam Atomic Energy Institute for their willingness to participate in the research.Without their help, this project could not be fulfilled

Last but not least, I am most thankful to my family members who have alwaysinspired and encouraged me to complete this study

Hanoi, 2016

Phạm Th Thu Trang

Strong needs of working learners, urgent demands of occupation and greatexpectation of leaders have revealed there is a call for designing a writing course atVietnam Atomic Energy Institute This course with workplace orientation wasdeveloped using competence-based approach so that the learning outcomes can meetfuture staffing requirements of the nuclear organization In this case, based onunderstanding of VAEI context, learners‟ needs and employers‟ requirementsanalysis, the paper is to explore the target genres, determine the specificity of writingcompetences covered within the course, and then develop course schedules Notably,there have been no attempts in investigating this issue before Hopefully, the paperwould investigate needed English written competences for engineers at VietnamAtomic Energy Institute and provide suggestions for the course components includingcontents, objectives, teaching methods and assessment to implement the future writingcourse under the light of Competence-Based Approach

TABLE OF CONTENTS

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims of study 3

3 Research questions 3

4 Scope of study 3

5 Methods of study 4

6 Design of study 4

PART B: LITERATURE REVIEW 5

Chapter 1- An Overview of the Competence-Based Approach 5

1.1 Definition of Competence and Competency 5

1.1.1 Definition of Competence 5

1.1.2 Definition of Competency 5

1.2 Approaches in course designing 6

1.2.1 Skill-based approach 6

1.2.2 Content-based approach 7

1.2.3 Theme-based approach 8

1.2.4 Functional-Notional approach 8

1.2.5 Competence-based Approach 9

1.2.3.1 The application and features of CBA in course designing 9

1.2.3.2 The application of CBA in English Language Teaching (ELT) 10

1.2.3.3 Course development process according to CBA 12

Chapter 2- Theoretical Issues on Writing Course 15

2.1 Nature of writing 15

2.2 English writing competence in theory and in reality 15

2.2.1 English writing competences in theory 15

2.2.2 Realization of English writing competence 17

2.2.3 Writing teaching approaches 22

2.2.3.1 The Product Approach 22

2.2.3.2 The Process Approach 23

PART C: METHODOLOGY 26

3.1 Context of the study 26

3.2.1.Research questions 27

3.2.2 Participants 28

3.2.3 Data collection instruments 28

3.2.3.1 Survey questionaire 28

3.2.3.2 Semi-structured interviews 30

3.2.4 Data collection procedure 32

3.2.5 Data analysis 34

3.2.5.1 Needs analysis by graphical method and simple percentage analysis 34

3.2.5.2 Content analysis 35

PART D: FINDINGS & DISCUSSIONS 36

4.1 Students’ needs and employers’ requirements analysis 36

4.1.1 Needs from students‟ perspectives 36

4.1.2 Needs from employers‟ perspectives 44

4.2 Interview results of the 1st course draft – Editting the 1st course content 46

4.2.1 Interview results 46

4.2.1.1 The appropriateness of the course objectives to students‟ language proficiency 46 4.2.1.2 The completeness of the course content and materials 47

4.2.1.3 The coherence of course schedule and assessment scheme to the course objectives 48

4.2.1.4 The integration of teaching methods, teachers and students‟ roles 50

4.2.1.5 The success probability of course implementation 50

4.2.2 Decisions on editting the 1 st course guide 51

4.2.2.1 Course objectives 51

4.2.2.2 Course content and materials 51

4.2.2.3 Course schedule and assessment scheme 52

PART E: CONCLUSION 53

5.1 Reflection on research process 53

5.2 Recommendations 54

5.3 Limitations and suggestions for further study 55

REFERENCES 57

APPENDICES I

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND SYMBOLS

Analysis, design, development, implementation, and evaluation

Competence – based approachCompetency – based education in ESLCompetence- based language teachingContent-based instruction

Common European Framework of Reference for LanguagesCommon Scale for Writing

English Language TeachingEnglish for Occupational PurposesEnglish for Speakers of Other LanguagesEnglish as Second Language

English for Specific PurposesEducational Testing ServiceFunctional-Notional approachInternational English Language Testing SystemSecond language

NumberSkill-based approachTheme-based approachTest of English as Foreign LanguageUniversity of Languages and International StudiesVietnam Atomic Energy Agency

Vietnam Atomic Energy InstituteVietnam National University

LIST OF TABLES, CHARTS, FIGURES

Table 1 VAEI leaders‟ features in the semi-structured interview 33

Table 2 Experts‟ features in the semi-structured interview 34

Chart 1: Course development process according to CBA 13

Chart 2 Stages of teaching writing under the product approach 22

Chart 3.1 Stages of writing process according to process approach 23

Chart 3.2 Stages of writing process according to process approach 24

Figure 1 Tasks expected in thewriting course 36

Figure 2 Major skills needed to support 37

Figure 3 Aim at CEFR level of language proficiency 37

Figure 4 Genres of written documents needed to learn 38

Figure 5 Genres of written documents with difficulty 38

Figure 6 Type of feedback expected in the course 39

Figure 7 The importance of assessment types 40

Figure 8 The effectiveness of assessment types 40

Figure 9 The appropriate teaching methods 41

Figure 10 The students‟ willingness for self-study 41

Figure 11 The appropriate proportion of class time/self-study time 41

Figure 12 The effectiveness of the given lesson sequences 41

Figure 13 The students‟ roles in the course 42

Figure 14 The teachers‟ roles 42

Figure 15 The types of materials included in a writing course 43

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

In the industrialized world, a great number of graduates, engineers andbusinessmen, who are expecting to gain more advanced knowledge and open access tothe world, notably need English competences Among English competences that

working learners seek training, achievement of English writing proficiency assumes

an enormous importance in fitting the heavy literacy demands of their employers Notonly is it hard to imagine modern workplaces without English essays, commercialemails, reports, case studies and journal articles but writing is also a key feature forwriters to demonstrate their understanding of subjects and their experiences

Nevertheless, these kinds of experiences are extremely challenging to studentsand may be especially frightening to those writing in a second language This is notonly because different languages seem to have different ways of organizing ideas andstructuring arguments but because students‟ prior writing experiences in the school,college or university do not prepare them for the literacy expectations of theirprofessional workplace That is one of reasons why for the last decades, the matter ofeducational contents corresponding to future job demands has become an essentialissue in educational reforms all over the world

Due to widespread concern about the quality of students‟ learning process, in

particular, fluency in the conventions of writing in English at work, Competence – Based Approach originated in response to increase calls for learning outcomes upon

course completion The approach focuses on assisting students towards writingcompetence in particular target genres so as to be more responsive to professions‟needs; in other words, familarizing them with writing English for OccupationalPurposes (EOP) (Auerbach, 1986)

As a result, writing course designers are supposed not simply to develop the content of teaching writing generally but to recognise particular kinds of writing

which are valued and expected in one certain professional context In details, EOP

practitioners need to make considerable use of the findings such as the literacy demands to determine what is to be learned and to organise instruction around the

genres that learners need and the social contexts in which they will operate

In the social context of Vietnam, one recent upsurge attempts in acquiring

of nuclear programs has spread in various regions of the world and Vietnam isconsidering the introduction of Nuclear Power as part of its national energy strategy.Related to this strategy, Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VAEI), Ministry of Scienceand Technology is national research institute whose responsibility is to train anddevelop man power in the field of atomic energy – the field encompassing a plenty ofinternational scientific studies and technological materials Hence, building and

maintaining the availability of research workforce, who are competent in written English, has been one of the most critical challenges of VAEI.

Meanwhile, the same issue as above-mentioned, “the abyss existing betweenthe goals of the academic and the professional world” inevitably exists at VAEI

(Dominguez and Rokowski, 2002) In particular, because of a discrepancy between the university English language curriculum and requirements for jobs, almost all graduates working here have deficiency of written English competences As a

consequence, much concern of both themselves and their employers has been given to

the adequate outcomes of their written works in English to effectively serve the occupational demands in a research institute.

Strong needs of working learners, high demands of occupation and great expectation of leaders reveal there is a call for study of designing an EOP writing

course at VAEI This course with workplace orientation should be developed usingcompetence-based approach so that the learning outcomes can meet future staffingrequirements of the nuclear organization In this case, based on understanding of VAEIcontext, learners‟ needs and employers‟ requirements analysis, course designers are toexplore the target genres, determine the specificity of writing competences coveredwithin the course, and then build up course guides and schedules Notably, there havebeen no attempts in investigating this issue before It is, hence, of principal importance

to research the matter intensively at this Institute

The aforementioned reasons have given rise to the development a writingcourse in this study, in which competence-based approach is selected Hopefully, theresearcher would make the contribution to complete an in-depth investigation ofneeded competence in English written communication for engineers to shed some light

in the area where resources are limited

2 Aims of study

As discussed earlier, the present study aims to develop an English writingcourse regarding to professional preparation for VAEI staff The course is similar to aworkplace-oriented language program since its main goal is to enable the learners touse written English at work

The first objective of the research is to interview human resources managers

and conduct a survey among engineers to identify and analyze their English writing needs and expectation The second, the paper aims to design the course guide,

including the description, learning objectives, contents, activities, materials,assessment and testing Accordingly, the course would be developed based on the

needs analysis Finally, experts were invited to validate and evaluate the course in

order that necessary adjustments can be done according to their suggestions

2 What are the teaching experts‟ opinions of the developed need-based

competence-based writing course?

4 Scope of study

The development of a EOP writing course using competence - based approach

is such a broad topic that it can not be wholly discussed within the framework of thispaper Thus, this minor thesis is restricted in touching upon the theory and application

of Competence – Based Approach in English Language Teaching, particularly in aworkplace – oriented writing course, the theory and realization of English writingcompetences in Literature Review Then it attempts to investigate the foremost needs

of targeted learners group and leaders‟ typical requirements for their staff‟s Englishwriting competences VAEI has 09 subsidiaries across the country but the survey ofthe study was merely conducted among the participants currently working in Hanoidue to the limited time Also, the syllabus was designed with the most importantlearning activities, so that the framework can be flexibly used and adapted by theInstitute later

5 Methods of study

This study employed qualitative and quantitative research methods in order tohave a more detailed and comprehensive picture about what is investigated To takethe first place, an occupational needs analysis was conducted Due to time andresources limitation, the first step was to utilize semi-structured interviews with 03managers in nuclear field Then a survey questionaire was delivered to 50 engineers atVAEI The results summarized and analyzed in quantitative statistics are the basis forthe first draft of course design

Qualitative research method was further conducted by interviewing 03experienced English teaching experts who are all specialists in the course developmentThen the researcher analyzed the experts' opinion about the quality of the developedcourse, their recommendations for adaptation and adjustment under the light ofCompetence – Based Approach

6 Design of study

This study is composed of three following parts:

Part A: Introduction presents the background, aims, research questions,

methods, scope, and the design of the study

Part B: Literature Review is organized around two chapters as follows, which

conceptualize the framework of the study through the discussion of issues and ideas ontheories of developing a writing course using competence-based approach

Chapter 1 – An overview of the Competence-Based

Approach Chapter 2 – Theoretical Issues on Writing Course

Part C: Methodology presents the context, the methodology used in this study

including the context, the subject, the data collection instruments, data collectionprocedure, and data analysis

Part D: Findings and Discussions consists of a comprehensive analysis of the

data and a discussion on the findings of this study

Part E: Conclusion offers a summary of the findings, recommendations,

limitations, and future directions for further study

PART B: LITERATURE REVIEW CHAPTER 1- AN OVERVIEW OF THE COMPETENCE-BASED APPROACH

This chapter is devoted to give a clear presentation of theoretical backgroundfor the realization of the Competence – Based Approach (henceforth CBA) Firstly, itwould be better to include the conceptual basis about CBA as a new and dynamic topic

in Vietnam It is clarified by defining the key terms named competence and competency Also, the various development approaches of language teaching

programs before and the features of CBA are described before the process ofdeveloping a competence-based course in a variety of disciplines is mentioned

1.1 Definition of Competence and Competency

The aim of CBA is to make students more competent through the acquisition ofcompetencies and the further development of the newly acquired or already held

competencies (Kouwenhoven, 2003) Therefore, “competence” and “competency” are

often considered as important concepts in this approach Based on various definitionsand dimensions, these two concepts can be clarified in the literature

1.1.1 Definition of Competence

Kouwenhaven (2003) defines this term as ''the capacity to accomplish „up tostandard‟ the key occupational tasks that characterize a profession'' In like manner,

Field and Drysdale (1991) refers to competence as output – the ability to perform in

work roles or jobs at a desired level or to a certain standard in employment On the

other hand, Kirchner et al (1997) claimed competence is the possession and use of certain attributes such as knowledges, skills and attitudes or competence as input.

Accordingly, there is an unskeptical difference from one view to another Some viewssee it as a a broad and general concept which is doing with occupational tasks;however, others consider it as a narrow concept which focuses on the routine workactivity In spite of the varied definitions, all of them emphasize the fact that

competence is both a physical and an intellectual ability to reach satisfactory or superior performance in key occupational tasks through repeated experiences 1.1.2 Definition of Competency

Regarding competency, there is the shortage of definition in an integrated way,

and competences For example, the New Oxford Advanced Learner‟s Dictionary(2005) defines competence as “the ability to do something well‟‟ (p 294) Oxford

further states that competence and competency are synonymous as competences and

competencies This view is also shared by Burke (1989), who said that these terms areoften used interchangeably

Attempts by researchers, such as Kouwenhoven (2003), a comprehensivedefinition of competency can be further clarified in a model from which, competency

is seen as “the ability to process various inputs in an intentional way” In other words,Kouwenhoven, from his part, coined the term as the capability to choose and apply anintegrated combination of knowledge, skills and attitudes with the intention to realise aspecific task in a certain context From this definition, it can be inferred that

competency consists of a set of components which are skills, abilities, and

knowledge and the competencies as a collection of competency By the same token,

Blakemore (2008) described competency as the result from breaking down a job orrole into a particular and observable skills that are needed to do it well All thesedefinitions enable us to have a clear idea about the concept 'competency' which

involves being good at doing something particular in specific conditions.

1.2 Approaches in course designing

The approaches in course designing, which have been characterized by thepedagogical tendencies, have been profuse and varied More and more different trendshave been evolved and formulated mainly in terms of diverse teaching methods, each

of which has attempted to find more effective and efficient ways of teaching andlearning Hence, the aim of this part is precisely to review such merits andshortcomings of recent approaches to general course designing This effort will help toshed the light into the core of each selected approach, then determine which aspects ofCBA can be considered to outweigh others when facing workplace settings or lessacademic situations in this “post-communicative era” (Molina et al., 2005)

view the course content following SBA involves a collection of particular and seperated skills that may play a role in bridging skill gaps Each skill is divided into

subskills, which are gradually taught in a predetermined sequence through directexplanation, modeling and repetition Within it, specific subject matter teaching iscarried out through the focus on a concrete academic skill area The mastery of theseskills are constantly measured using discrete – point tests before learning a new one

Thus, it is claimed that this approach can not only be easily implemented but enable the learners to acquire skills easier and satisfy their needs to some extent.

Nonetheless, Anderson (1984) warns against the course design in whichisolated skills are taught due to the fact that the brains can not store bits of information

for a long time Additionally, the passive role of students and narrow skill – based instructions are said to lead to underdevelopment of independent learning skills and

competences

1.2.2 Content-based approach

The second noteworthy approach which is linked with the previously examinedmodel according to which it can be organised is content-based instruction (CBI) It hasbeen widely used in a variety of different settings such as ESP, EOP since the 1980s

with the integration of targeted knowledge instruction and instruction in

the content areas The focus is thus on the substance or meaning of the content that is

being taught Its advocates claim that it leads to more successful program outcomesthan alternative language teaching approaches Critics say that most language teachershave been trained to teach language as a skill rather than a content subject For thestudent, they may feel confused, overwhelmed, or even frustrated They may also havelimited time to achieve an adequate academic level Also, assessment is made moredifficult, as both subject matter and language skills need to be taken into account Inspite of these possible problems, all in all, CBI is currently considered “one of themost promising present and future trends in language teaching and learning”(Fernández and Sánchez, 2001, p.129) As Richards and Rodgers (2001, p 220) put it,

“we can expect to see CBI continue as one of the leading curricular approaches inlanguage teaching”

environment for using the language; provides a language-rich classroom environment

by focusing on many aspects of a particular topic; offers opportunities for students tomake connections between what they know and what they are learning; and finally,presents a variety of content-related activities through which learning can beaccomplished (Enright, 1988) In line with this, the theme or topic runs througheverything that happens in the classroom and acts as a connecting thread for pupils and

teachers; hence, effective theme-based instruction is extremely demanding for course designers in both planning and in implementation Knowledge of a wide repertoire of

activity types and resources is needed to plan for learners of all abilities to be stretchedand learning all the time (Bahtiar, 2012) In short, according to TBA, there is a realpotential for effective language learning take place, because the pupils and teachersopen up the language classroom by bringing in the world outside and linking intochildren‟s real interests and enthusiasms

1.2.4 Functional-Notional approach

The next-to–last instructional approach which is spawned by ComunicativeApproach is the Functional-Notional approach (FNA) White (1988, p 75) explains itsmain focus is on the concepts such as “time, space, movement, cause and effect” and

“the intentional or purposive use of language” that learners need to communicate

about However, it is argued by Widdowson (1979) that FNA provides limited communication that could be achieved only in certain settings; consequently, learners

are incapable of interacting in different situations as they do not know how to use thelanguage From my perspective it is an effective syllabus that could make a strong

contribution to learners communication ability On the contrary, it seems that it is not always feasible to utilise it in designing courses because of the varities in institutions,

societies, cultures, teachers and learners Also, although teaching situation is suitable it

may be difficult to organise a fruitful content for a FNA syllabus as learner needs

vary To sum up, the syllabus under FNA could be seen as an ideal way of teachingpurposeful communication as long as all suitable circumstances are implemented.

1.2.5 Competence-based Approach

It is high time to explore the last approach, competence-based approach (CBA)which has gained growing interest from course developers The term “backwarddesign” has been used to describe this approach in which the starting point is aspecification of learning outputs and to use these as the basis for developinginstructional processes and input (Richard, 2010)

1.2.3.1 The application and features of CBA in course designing

Many researchers shared the common thought that CBA focuses on the

outcome and competences acquired rather than on inputs to learning in the

development of training programs (Richards and Rodgers, 2001) Thereupon, thecompetences that should be developed by the end of the education programme is thecriterion for arranging the course More pariticularly, competences that are needed by

a competent professional are supposed to determine the underlying attributes in

terms of knowledges and skills included in designed courses using competence-basedapproach

In this sense, the competences or a set of competences must be clearly defined, measurable, and related to the knowledge or skills needed for future endeavors, such

as additional education or employment Also, according to Kouwenhoven (2003),

knowledges and skills determined by competences are “domain specific” For each

domain, a set of subdomains elaborate the specific competences that a student mustdemonstrate

One more essential feature is CBA addresses what learners are expected to do

with what they learn By all means, CBA is learner-centered and the individual

worker is central Based on his “competence status” or already acquired competences,the competences are defined that still have to be acquired and developed Another key

point of a learner – centered approach in CBA is continuous feedback on the formation and development of their competences and the use of appropriately designed materials with competence (Chinh, 2012).

support the development of competences Moreover, the acquisition of knowledgetakes place in the context of professional application Thus, the trend to competency –based development became a policy strategy in many countries during the 1990s asthey strove to restructure their vocational education systems, including Australia, the

US, the UK and many European countries Biemans et al (2004) suggested that the

basis of this popularity lies in the belief that competence course design will help bridge the gap between education and the labour market, facilitating the transition

from school to work This preparation for work is also seen as having the benefit offostering learning to learn skills that will make employees and citizens more flexibleand change – responsive (Lans et al 2004; van der Klink and Boon 2002)

As a conclusion, the present society requires professionals to be able to facecondidently and expertly dynamics, knowledge intensity and new situations Hence,learning in a professional context become more important and general academic coursedesign is becoming more professional oriented In this perspective, CBA could be anappropriate choice This requires fundamental changes in course design, including

course designer’s recognition about working learners and industry needs, the course context, the roles of students and teachers.

1.2.3.2 The application of CBA in English Language Teaching (ELT)

This final noteworthy approach has of late entered the language teachingpanorama Wong (2008) stated that CBA emerged in the 1970s in the US At that time,teaching English as a second or foreign language became an important matter because

of the urgent need for practical English for people in many parts of the world ratherthan academic English language acquired in school All the circumstances led to thewidely adopted applications of the CBA principles into adult English as SecondLanguage (ESL) programs called Competence- Based Language Teaching (CBLT)(Auerbach, 1986)

In the language area, according to Grognet & Crandall (1982, as cited in

Auerbach, 1986, p 413), CBLT focuses on performance-based language tasks that

lead to a demonstrated mastery of the language associated with specific skills whichare necessary for individuals to function proficiently in the society Likewise, Findleyand Nathan (1980, p 223) indicated the emphasis of CBLT is not on what the students

know about a language anymore but more to what learners can do with language.

Whosoever, these scholars share the same view on the aspect CBA and its applicationsuch as CBLT both see outputs very importantly rather than the learning process

The priority of learning outcomes or successful functioning at work and in

society has led to designed language tasks and syllabi with performance orientation and competencies identified with focus on the professional practice

rather than language ability only (Auerbach,1986) Field and Drysdale (1991) added

the language learning content is based directly on the skills needed to do a job.

As mentioned above, CBA is learner-centred in the use of individualisedmaterials, flexible learning time and a continuous feedback to the learner Thereforth,

objectives of the lessons or competencies to be acquired are stated via individual requirements Objectives are broken into narrowly focused sub-objectives, so that

both teachers and students can get a clear sense of progress (Richards, 2001)

Equally important, assessment is the integrated part in implementing the CBA

in ELT which considered not only in exams but also in an ongoing instruction Also,

it is implemented through criteria referenced assessment, which measure the

achievement of each individual in the compared relation to standards, criteria, not

by comparing learners with others (Chinh, 2012)

Last but not least, the role of the teacher in ELT under CBA is that of a

“cognitive guide” or a guiding role (Kouwenhoven, 2003) Teachers encourage

language learners to engage in active inquiry and make competencies visible On theother hand, he added that the involvement of a teacher in the learning process moves

students gradually to their self – regulation or gets them slowly used to independent learning.

In a nutshell, CBA is indeed learner-centred, outcome-based and adaptive to the changing needs of students, teachers and the community It deals with the demand

to function or at least survive in society by using focus on the mastery of the performance rather than theory The course is broken down into very specified objectives which are set based on the learner needs and the expected outcomes and through on going assessment One application of CBA is CBLT which focuses “on

itself” (Nunan, 2007) Thus, CBLT learners‟ confidence is enhanced because they canachieve language competencies required in the performance in real life.

No matter how good an approach is, some weaknesses are always found Withregard to CBLT, there are several criticisms in Auerbach‟s article He supposes thatCBLT openly put the objective of serving the industry as one of its aim thus preparingstudents to fulfil employers' needs (Auerbach, 1986) Yet, the effect of this simplistic

objective is the teacher must eliminate any curriculum which does not relate

directly with the employment Besides, he shared about the English Language

teaching material under CBA, the linguistics competence is taught in chunks in whichthe language learnt is specific Meanwhile, the fact is that a language is complex anddynamic

The story of CBESL has taken decades of scholarship for debate on whetherembracing or rejecting it Critics of educational policy argue in various ways thatCBESL has not and probably will not “improve learning” in most of contexts where ithas been applied They have called it a “theoretical and methodologically vacuousstrategy” for upgrading of the vocational education and training system (Hyland, 1992

p 35) On the contrary, advocates of CBESL support a view point that CBESLindicates “successful performance in life-role activity” (William, 1977 p 10)

Regardless of a great deal of paradoxes and contradictions of CBLT, for the lastdecades, it has become adopted in many countries, leading to series of changes at thelevel of syllabus and language course development which will be mentioned below

1.2.3.3 Course development process according to CBA

Gustafson & Branch (2002) states that course development is a “complexprocess that, when appropriately applied, promotes creativity during development andresults in instruction that is both effective and appealing to learners” In their book,they present an instructional development model in which a variety of systematicinstructional design processes have been described (Dick & Carey, 1996; Gagné,Briggs, & Wager, 1992; Kemp, Morrison, & Ross, 1998; Smith & Ragan, 1998) All

descriptions include the five core elements of Analysis, Design, Development, Implementation, and Evaluation (ADDIE) Chart 1 illustrates the conceptual

relationship among them where revision continues throughout the process at least untilthe course is implemented.

Chart 1: Course development process according to CBA

According to ADDIE (Gustafson & Branch, 2002), Analysis often includes

conducting a needs assessment, which includes input from students as well as from

the various people connected to the course, such as teachers, funders, and employers(Graves, 1996) In order to conduct this assessment, course designers may use a

variety of methods, including questionaires, tests and interview as common tools After that, the goals focused on learners’ needs are to be determined and stated.

The second stage is Design which needs to be specific with attention to details

and the attainment of the course‟s goals It includes writing objectives in measurable terms, classifying learning as to type, specifying learning activities, and specifying

media

The third, Development consists of preparing student and instructor materials as specified during design (Kemp, Morrison, & Ross, 1998) Then Implementation

includes delivering the instruction in the settings for which it was designed (Greer,

1996) The last stage, Evaluation includes both collecting data to identify needed

revisions to the instruction and to assess the overall worth of the instruction (Dick &

Carey, 1996)

As it can be obviously seen, the strengths found in ADDIE model are

compatible with CBA in course designing Initially, ADDIE and CBA are centered, which means that the learner and his or her performance are the focal point

learner-of the instruction In addition, employing ADDIE and CBA, course designers are

expected to establish well-defined goals and break them down into very specified objectives which are set based on the learner needs and the real – world performance

ADDIE is believed to be geared toward reliable and valid measurement of the skills and knowledge learners will be required to demonstrate in the real world (Gustafson

& Branch, 2002) That is to say, ADDIE model should be made use of in course designing according to CBA

Within the framework of this study, four out of five ADDIE elements, including

Analysis-Design-Development-Evaluation, were applied into the process of writing

course development using CBA Needs analysis was an initial step to gather data andinformation about the foremost needs of VAEI working learners group as well as someVAEI leaders‟ typical requirements and expectations for their staff‟s writingcompetences in English The data were then analysed to identify the essential andcontext – dependent writing competences for the purpose of course development and

selection for Design and Development Based on the specification, course designer

recognized and determined five domains in course development, including courseobjectives, contents, activities, assessments and materials Those domains are the mostimportant and highly required in the sample of outcome-based course guide of Hanoi

National University (Hướng dẫn xây dựng và hoàn thiện chương trình đào tạo theo

chuẩn đầu ra, 2010) The last stage is Evaluation which made exploration into a group

of teaching experts‟ opinions of the developed need-based writing course pilot usingCBA for appropriate modification In the scope of the minor thesis, the fourth stage of

course Implementation was skipped and may be hopefully shed into light in another

further research

Conclusion

Approaches and methods of language teaching have been changing over time.With global developments in science, society and economy, the demand for morepractical English teaching emerged outstandingly One answer to this is the newapproach, CBA - a stronger focus on the world of work with professional purposes Itenables learners the substantial acquisition of knowledge and performance capacityrequired for professional practice The difference between vocational andacademic/general education is getting smaller Therefore, the learner can construct andcreate his own knowledge and understanding in order to be successful at work

CHAPTER 2 - THEORETICAL ISSUES ON WRITING COURSE

Writing well is the purpose for many learners of foreign languages Therefore, agreat number of experts in foreign language writing focus their attention in theirpapers, dissertations, books about issues related to writing This chapter deals withwriting skill which is considered as an important issue for engineers in VAEI After anoverview of the nature of writing and its components is given, English writingcompetences in theory and practice are presented Finally, how to design and select thetasks is tackled It also highlights assessment under the CBA with a particular attentiongiven to one of the most appropriate procedures

2.1 Nature of writing

Writing as one of the four major language skills plays a vital role in theteaching and learning process because of the several advantages it provides Like theother skills, it may be considered as a skill that can help learners to achieve proficiency

in the foreign language Bashyal (2009) claimed in his paper that writing uses visual symbols (or graphic symbols) to represent the sounds used in speaking or to express what the author intends to tell He added it is a productive skill which involves better organisation of meaning and also more accuracy of form than speaking Likewise,

Dornan & Dawe (2005, p 1) defined ''writing is a concentrated form of thinking'' This

means that the writer requires a full concentration during his writing in order to

produce a readable and meaningful text

From these definitions, it can be seen that writing effectively is a tough task thateven many native speakers of English never totally master Thus, for non-nativelearners, the ability to express their ideas in written form in a second language and to

do so with reasonable accuracy and coherence is “no mean achievement” Murcia & McMcintosh, 1979)

(Celce-2.2 English writing competence in theory and in reality

2.2.1 English writing competences in theory

Because of the hard nature of writing, language scholars around the world havededicated great efforts to describe and categorise its relevant competences Fourbasically underpinned English writing competences defined by Hymes (1979) and

“discourse competence‟ and “strategic competence” The first one refers to the

knowledge of a finite system of rules that enables an ideal language user in a homogenous speech community to generate and understand an infinite variety of sentences (Fatemi, 2008) He said writing and grammar are “inextricably intertwined”

owing to good writing derives its excellence from faultless grammar

Secondly, Bashyal (2009) claimed a good piece of writing is not only

grammatically accurate but logical and correct in word choice, spelling and punctuation A written text must also maintain cohesion and coherence by providing

good reasons and evidences for opinions to clarify or to persuade the readers There isquite often no physical presence of the readers – but only an assumed audience Thereaders cannot ask questions so the writer must anticipate possible questions andexplain them (Ur, 2008, pp 160-161) What is more, having the awareness of the

social rules of a language, the formality, directness, politeness, non verbal behaviors

and cultural references is included in this competence, namely “socio-linguistic”.

Equally important, to be able to write in a second language (L2) effectively,

writers need to learn its orthography, morphology, lexicon, syntax, as well as the

discourse and rhetorical conventions In other words, “discource competence” must

be taken into account For instance, among the competencies that learners need toattain to achieve proficiency in L2 writing are the ability to produce lengthy texts thathave appropriate metadiscourse features such as exemplifiers, connectives, hedges andvaried and sophisticated vocabulary and syntactic structures (Buckwalter & Lo, 2002;Grant & Ginther, 2000), to employ different patterns of overall text organization, forexample, description, narration, argument, and to incorporate others‟ ideas and texts intheir own writing effectively (Cumming, 2001)

Last but not least, Cumming (2001) sees learning L2 writing as the acquisition

of successful writing strategies or attainment of “strategic competence” From this

perspective, learning L2 writing is seen as the acquisition of both macro strategies

such as planning, drafting and revising, and micro strategies such as attending to

content and form concurrently and automatic searches for words and syntax It should

be noted here that knowledge of L2 linguistic and discourse aspects, the type ofknowledge that tends to be above emphasized, affects these processes Thus,

knowledge of these L2 linguistic and textual aspects

linguistic resources more fluently and to plan, draft,

(Chenowith & Hayes, 2001; Cumming, 2001)

allows writers to use their and revise more effectively

2.2.2 Realization of English writing competence

Inspired by the above line of inquiry, and in order to design the contents for thetargeted course in this study, the present part proceeds to give a second thought to theapplication of theoretical writing competence into practice, most visible from thewriting constructs in large scale tests In this line, the tradition of using rating scales inwriting assessment is investigated

In the first place, one of the best alternatives may well be the widely approved

writing assessment rubric, namely IELTS (International English Language Testing System) Profile Band Descriptors for Academic and General Training Writing

Module The IELTS writing test is used as an example of a large scale high stake test

in measuring test-takers‟ English language communicative competence In IELTSprofile band descriptors, writing pieces are required to be assessed from three aspects

including: “communicative quality”, “arguments, ideas & evidence and vocabulary &

sentence structure”, which almost cover the three competences, suggested beforehand

(Cao, 2012)

Besides IELTS, as applied to the second-language arena, the Test of English as Foreign Language (TOEFL) writing of Educational Testing Service (ETS, USA) is

designed to target a range of proficiency such as lexical and syntactic standards of

English and the effectiveness with which the examinee organizes, develops, and

expresses ideas in writing (ETS, 2004) That is recognized as “socio-linguistic”

competence Except for that, the context of the TOEFL suggests a stricking attention to

writing as "discourse competence,” that takes place within a context, accomplishes a

particular purpose, and is appropriately shaped for its intended audience (Hamp-Lyons

& Kroll, 1997) On the other hand, using correct grammar, vocabulary, spelling and punctuation is highly required in TOEFL writing pieces

As can be inferred from the pictorial representation above, IELTS and TOEFLwriting descriptors have put different weight of emphasis on a variety of examinees‟

ESOL (English for Speakers of Other Languages) Common Scale for Writing (CSW)

as a wellknown descriptor of writing proficiency levels would be examined to revealany implicit assumptions and/or hidden values involved (Hawkey & Barker, 2004)

In Cambridge ESOL exams, writing involves multiple competences including

vocabulary and grammatical knowledge, phonological control, knowledge of discourse, and pragmatic awareness (Hamp-Lyons and Kroll, 1997) Ramshaw (2010)

also shared his view with that writing ability is regarded as a “linguistic, cognitive,social and cultural phenomenon” that takes place in a “specific context” and for a

“particular purpose” Furthermore, writing tasks set as part of the tests are currentlyscored by rating degree of task fulfilment and evidence of target language control

according to criteria such as communicative effectiveness, register, organisation,

linguistic range and accuracy (Hawkey & Barker 2004) Apparently, it is necessary

for candidates to achieve a satisfactory level in organising and structuring theirresponse coherently and offering relevant information which addresses therequirements of the task

It is impossible not to mention the The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) as a key guidance for course designers in shaping

the course contents CEFR describes language learners‟ ability of speaking, reading,listening and writing at six reference levels ranging from the basic user stage to theproficient user stage, levels A1 to C2

In terms of writing, the CEFR provides „illustrative descriptors‟ and these are

presented as a series of scales with Can Do statements from levels A1 to C2 These

scales can be used for writing syllabus designers, coursebook publishers and writingtest providers worldwide, including Cambridge ESOL, seek to align their exams to theCEFR for reasons of transparency and coherence It can be seen from the descriptors,users/learners bring to bear their capacities as detailed above for the realisation of

written communicative competence, in narrow sense, including linguistic

competences, sociolinguistic competences and pragmatic competences (Council of

Europe, p.108)

For linguistic competences in writing, CEFR clearly distinguished them into

lexical competence, grammatical competence, semantic competence, orthographic

competence Lexical and grammar competences are similar to competences that were

aforementioned Adding to that, CEFR writing referes to semantic competence whichdeals with the “learner‟s awareness and control of the organisation of meaning”.Orthographic competence involves “a knowledge of and skill in the perception andproduction of the symbols of which written texts are composed” (CEFR, p 117) Foralphabetic system such as English, learners should know and be able to perceive andproduce the form of letters in printed and cursive forms in both upper and lower case,the proper spelling of words, including recognised contracted forms, punctuationmarks and their conventions of use

With regard to sociolinguistic competences, the knowledge and skills required

to deal with the social dimension of language use such as linguistic markers of socialrelations, expressions of folk-wisdom, register differences The first use is widelydivergent depending on relative status or closeness of relation such as use and choice

of address forms (Council of Europe, p.119) The second, expressions of folk-wisdomare frequently used, or perhaps more often referred to, for instance in newspaperheadlines, proverbs, idioms Meanwhile, the term „register‟ is used to refer tosystematic differences between varieties of language used in different contexts This is

a very broad concept, which could cover what is here dealt with under „tasks‟ or types‟ All of these vary in different contexts and from one culture to another

„text-In respect of pragmatic competences, they are concerned with the user and

learner‟s knowledge of the principles according to which written texts are organised,structured and arranged, used in communication for particular functional purposessuch as description, narration, commentary, exposition, exegesis, explanation,argumentation, persuasion (Council of Europe, p 126)

To cut a long story short, writing in CEFR is designed to target a singleproficiency level – from A1 to C2 level of the CEFR; therefore the writing test reflectstasks, skills, and competences appropriate to this single level In curriculum andsyllabus design, the CEFR writing scale is a rich source of descriptors which can berelated to both high and lower-level aims and is designed to be applicable to manycontexts, including education, university, migration, and work Thus, linking a writing

learning (the learners, the learning objectives, etc.) to the CEFR, focusing on thoseaspects which can be found reflected in the level descriptors Upon finding relevantscales and descriptors in the CEFR, the course designer can then state the languageproficiency level at which students are expected to be able to achieve the objectives.This also illustrates that linking to CEFR is a very effective way of focusing on theoutcomes of language teaching (Council of Europe 2001a).

Summary

The above constructs of writing competence in ESL have varied significance tocourse designers Firstly, despite outstanding IELTS Profile Band Descriptors forAcademic and General Training Writing Module, it is hard for designers of a writingcourse according to CBA to follow the IELTS writing module In my view, thesignificant reason is that the IELTS writing module claims to prepare test-takers forthe writing skills required in English-speaking universities In addition, Leki,Cumming and Silva (2008) found it not to cover the essential and universal skills used

in workplace context such as specific subject matters, specialized vocabulary,researching, citing references, writing lengthy papers Weigle (2007) also criticized theshort, timed essays used in the IELTS writing tasks for failing to match the contextwhere the tasks require students to respond through other texts that have been read ordiscussed already, and involved elements of research and citing sources

Secondly, regarding TOEFL, in the design phase the primary concern was thatthe tasks must represent writing which is integral to university or college contexts.This has been borne out in the development of the integrated writing task, which hasclearly been modelled on an academic classroom environment Its advocates claim thatthis form of writing does allow the candidate to show language, structure andreasoning abilities that would be required in an educational setting (Enright & Quinlan,2010) However, a university student is rarely called on to write a 300-word essay in

30 minutes without reference to other sources (Weigle, 2002) At the same time, itseems to be too challenging for engineers at VAEI to practice and perform theirwriting competence under the integrated task On the other hand, in order to adoptTOEFL writing scoring rubrics, preparation for TOEFL test is highly needed; thus, theinstructors are required to spend considerable time and effort designing

courseware and exercises specifically targeting this perceived weakness Due to timeconstraints, it seemed more productive to devote resources to creating a “solution” byanother option rather than investigating the proposition.

In the case of the Cambridge ESOL General English suite of exams, differentexams target five different proficiency levels; however, the written responses areassessed via different multiband (or multilevel) rating scales To link the various ratingbands across the five exam levels, Cambridge ESOL has recently completed a long-term project to develop a Common Scale for Writing covering the five upper CEFRlevels However, it remains unclear how the finer bands of the exam-specific ratingscales can be interpreted with reference to the levels of this Common Scale and to theCEFR proficiency levels; to be more specific, could a band 5 rating, for instance, inthe CAE be interpreted as the candidate having shown a writing performance beyondCEFR Level C1? Although this issue is addressed for the overall grade, it is notaddressed for reporting a profile for the different skills covered in the exam Thus, itseems difficult to transparently trace how multiband ratings of written performances inthis suite of exams could lead to the assessment of a candidate‟s writing proficiency interms of CEFR levels (Taylor & Jones, 2006)

When it comes to the particular writing course design and writing assessmentcontext of workplace for occupational purposes, CEFR appears to outweight othermentioned procedures It can be adaptable to fit the context and central to theoutcomes of learning which competence-based approach aims at Once the context andpurpose are established, it is possible to delineate the target language use (TLU)situations For example, for the VAEI engineers, several TLUs can be imagined:attending lectures, participating in seminars, giving presentations, reading books andpapers, writing reports and essays; and each TLU may suggest a different combination

of skills and language exponents Furthermore, demands may vary on differentcourses: those such as engineering may require higher levels of ability in literacy-related areas than others (Council of Europe 2001a) This is why CEFR descriptionswill be used to design the most important component of the targeted writing course inthis study: the course objectives

2.2.3 Writing teaching approaches

Because of the hard nature of writing skill, engaging learners in writing in thetarget language is a tough job As a result, different theories have emerged to provideteachers with a relevant ways of teaching writing Two of the most common ones arethe product approach and the process approach

2.2.3.1 The Product Approach

Since 1970, the product approach has been known as or the text based approachand has become one of the most practiced approaches for writing around the world.This writing approach encourages students to produce an end product which may belikened to a model essay or the essay normally provided by teachers According to theapproach, students are encouraged to mimic a model text, which is usually presentedand analysed at an early stage They also copy and finally transform the models into anew essay to be as perfect as the one that they have imitated by focusing on thelanguage as instructed by the teacher After that, students are required to submit theirwritten essays to the teacher to be marked and graded rather than evaluated Teachers

in this perspective see errors must be corrected or eliminated (Tribble, 1996) A typicalproduct approach comprises the following stages:

Chart 2 Stages of teaching writing under the product approach

It was pointed out that guided composition helps student learn about sentencestructure (Hyland, 2002) In addition, students have a model to follow, a plan or outline

to expand from a partly written version Despite the benefits provided by this approachfor the accuracy structure of the sentence, it arouses deficiency in its application, since

it forms students who can produce grammatically correct sentences In other words,under this approach, the teacher‟s feedback is based on the grammatical and lexicalerrors (Matsuda, 2003, p 20)

2.2.3.2 The Process Approach

In the 1980, changes happened in both second language acquisition andcomposition Thus, writing researchers and teachers shifted their concern from textualfeatures to the process of writing itself This led to the emergence of the processapproach which ''emphasized the view of writing as a process of developingorganization as well as meaning'' (Matsuda, 2003, p 21) According to Brown & Hood(1989) the basic stages of writing process are: planning, drafting, and revising

Chart 3.1 Stages of writing process according to process approach

The diagram refers to the nature of relationship between the stages during thepractice and there is no obliged sequence to follow In this approach, students areneeded to move back and forth while going from one stage to another stage and takepart in writing activities During the activity, they may return to pre-writing activitieseven after reaching the final revising stage In this process, the focal point is the writerand the writing process The emphasis is on the linguistic skills of learners such asplanning and drafting prior to linguistic knowledge like grammar and text structure.The teachers are facilitators who monitor the activities in various stages On the otherhand, in process writing approach, many models in process are used, but there are fourinterrelated activities involved – generating, organizing, composing and revising(Gregg & Steinberg,1985) Basically a typical process writing approach compriseseight essential stages before the students produce the final evaluation from the teacher.The process model is shown below adopted from that of Steele (2004)

Obviously, all stages are of great importance in teaching writing, which shows

product Also, the end – product is not completely neglected The best product is believed to be achieved after a few draft The grammatical mistakes are tolerated

Chart 3.2 Stages of writing process according to process

approach to improve the development of the content ideas of the learners.

Summary

To recapitulate, section 2 has shed light on several well-known approaches inEnglish language course designing, the nature of writing and the realization of Englishwriting competences in theory and practice In order to shape the competence-basedwriting course, its components are determined as follows

Firstly, the professional oriented course will adopt one of the most widely usedCBA‟s applications, CBLT which was shown indeed learner-centred, outcome-basedand adaptive to the changing English language needs of working learners, employers,and occupations Secondly, course development process under CBLT was determined

by four out of five ADDIE elements, including

Analysis-Design-Development-Evaluation After the needed data are collected and analyzed, the course objectives,

contents, and materials for targeted competences accomplishment will be determined.Thirdly, designing and selecting tasks as well as assessing written work will followCEFR procedures at occupational context of VAEI Fourthly, the combining of bothproduct and process approaches to writing teaching activities will assist student writerswiden their skills in using the language by experiencing a whole writing process aswell as gain knowledge from the model texts The last stage applied in this study is

Evaluation which explores a group of teaching experts‟ opinions of the developed

need-based writing course pilot using competence-based approach for appropriatemodification In the scope of the minor thesis, the fourth stage of course

Implementation was skipped and may be hopefully shed into light in another further

research

To sum up, in this part, the course development process and realization ofwriting competences were given in details Based on that, the next part of the studywould take them into account within the particularly involved context of VAEI

PART C: METHODOLOGY

This part deals with the study process to obtain the research objectives andfigure out how to disclose the answers to two research questions In respect to that, thecontext of the study, the research questions, data collection instruments such as surveyquestionaires and interviews, data analysis employing qualititive and quantitivemethods were deeply touched upon in this part Some limitation of study methodologyand scope will be indicated as well

3.1 Context of the study

Writing, which was once considered the domain of the elite and well-educated,has become an essential tool for people of all walks of life in today‟s globalcommunity (Weigle, p.2) As our current world has entered the era of internationalcommunication and advanced technology, it has been widely recognized that writingplays a vital role not only in conveying information, but also in transformingknowledge to create new knowledge (Chelli & Hassina, 2010) It is thus of centralimportance to both students in academic, second and foreign language programmesand to people who are studying and working in technical fields throughout the world

Unexceptionally, engineers at Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute need to beequipped with adequate writing ability so that they can communicate technicalinformation clearly to the external world on at least a basic level Written documentswhich are to be communicated may include text such as trip reports, proposals, statusreports, meeting minutes, reports documenting site visits (Crawforth, 2012).Additionally, they may consist of calculations, plots and figures like lab reports,progress reports, user manuals and journal articles In fact, poor written Englishprevents engineers from reaching their full potential at professional level or going tofurther study They are aware of their own difficulty in writing but their attempts toimprove their writing skill are often thwarted by its complex nature and the gapbetween their own and their tutors‟ understanding the criteria for writing assessment(Pushpalatha, 2012)

Pushpalatha added, the recent emphasis on the acquisition of professional skillshas put more urgency to the need of teaching writing skills within specialist subjectareas In today‟s fast-paced and information-driven world, engineering executives

want engineers who can write clearly, concisely and comprehensively It helps to savesignificant time, prevent misunderstanding and improve results An engineer with welldeveloped written communication skills will be successful in his or her career In suchcontext, consciousness of an English writing course for engineers, particularly innuclear field are highly raised on these days.

However, there have not been any attempts at VAEI or any educationalinstitutions in Vietnam designing such a writing course which focus on English writingoutcomes to satisfy engineers‟ needs in contributing to their professional recognitionand career prospect Hence, this paper can be considered as the first trial to develop thewriting course which serves to foster learners‟ English writing competences atworkplace That is to say, the demand and contraints of particular context call forcompetence-based approach to fit in and enable learners to build targetedcompetences

3.2 The study

3.2.1 Research questions

As discussed earlier, the present study aims to develop an English writingcourse which is similar to a workplace – oriented language program to improveEnglish written competences of the learners at VAEI context Thus, the first researchquestion is regarding to survey human resources managers and working learners,identifying their needs in learning written English Based on the needs analysis, thecourse designer is supposed to recognize the essential and context-dependent writingcompetences, relevant knowledge and skills for engineers at VAEI Based on thespecification, course designer is to build needs-based writing course, determiningcourse objectives, contents, and materials which is potentially delivered to VAEIlearners for targeted competences accomplishment Henceforth, the second researchquestion aims to make exploration into a group of teaching experts‟ opinions of thedeveloped need-based writing course pilot using competence-based approach forappropriate modification Experts were invited to validate and evaluate the course inorder that necessary adjustments can be done according to their suggestions

3.2.2 Participants

The first research subjects are learners who are taking part in the course Inaddition, learners‟ needs are influenced by the environment where they are working,particularly by their employers‟ requirements of English writing competence.Accordingly, in this study, to ensure the objectiveness and representative samples, asurvey questionaire is delivered to 50 engineers at VAEI whose entry level isconsidered equivalent to at least B1 and a semi-structured interview with 03 leadersfrom different institutes and centers which are developing nuclear research andapplications They include Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute (VAEI); Vietnam AtomicEnergy Agency, Nuclear Training Center They are all PhDs in nuclear engineeringand have experienced in writing articles for international journals

Graves (1996) added that course designing includes needs analysis which isconducted among not only learners but also among others who are related to oraffected by the course, such as lecturers or pedagogical experts and employers Forexample, lecturers who will be in charge of teaching the course can make a goodcontribution of the knowledge that need to be acquired by learners because it helps toestablish the course content As no teachers at the Institute are available, 03 lecturerswith English Teaching and course designing experience from different faculies wereinvited to comment on the course initially developed by the researcher based on thestudents‟ needs Their critical comments and practical recommendations can help toenhance the procedure of course designing as well as course content

3.2.3 Data collection instruments

Data collection instruments which are emloyed in this research are composed of

a survey questionaire and a semi-structure interview protocol

3.2.3.1 Survey questionaire

According to Gillham (2000), survey questionaire is the first and foremostinstrument to usefully collect data in large scale Not only does it help to savesignificant time, efforts and finance but also bring about good effects in gatheringcomments from a group of population Provided that the survey questionaire should bewell designed, processing and analysing the data become faster and easier compared toother research instruments Another characteristic that makes it dominant over others

is flexibility, which allows its users to approach various subjects under a variety ofsituations.

For this research, the survey questionaire (see Appendix 1) is the mostappropriate instrument to gather information from 50 learners because of the largeamount of information collected from participants Moreover, the informationprocessing after gathered from questionaires are supposed to be less complicated

This intrument, one questionnaire with 14 questions, functions as the source toanswer the first research question concerning students‟ needs of English writingcourse In order to make sure that the participants can understand correctly the content

of the questionnaire, the questionnaire items are presented in Vietnamese as well.Explanation is elicited where necessary These 14 questions have tightly responded tofive main elements that were mentioned in outcome-based course development inLiterature Review, including course objectives, contents, teaching and learningmethods, assessment and materials

With regards to course objectives, in the first three questions, students wereasked about learning tasks, skills and CEFR level of language proficiency that theywere expected to achieve at the end of the course These questions aim at investigatingstudents‟ needs of knowledge, skills and targeted level of English upon the writingcourse completion Questioning about such issues as the necessity of language skillsupporting writing and English outcomes from the course were essential to meet one ofcourse objectives, enhancing students‟ written communicative language competences.According to the recent upsurge requirement of English competent workforceinvolving in research and development of atomic energy field, when VAEI isgenerating it as part of the national energy strategy, obtaining certain written Englishproficiency level has become a fundamental pre-requisite for engineers at VAEI

Two next questions in the questionaire identified students‟ needs about thecourse contents, in particular, the written genres which were supposed to be toughdocuments to handle and need to be taken into consideration through learning process.The aim of these questions is to find out the most appropriate and helpful contents forworking learners so as to build up the targeted writing course The questions were