A preliminary evaluation of the english course for academic purposes at the international department thai nguyen university

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE ENGLISH COURSE

VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES

NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO

A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE ENGLISH COURSE FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES AT THE INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT, THAI

NGUYEN UNIVERSITY (ĐÁNH GIÁ SƠ BỘ KHÓA HỌC TIẾNG ANH PHỤC VỤ MỤC ĐÍCH HỌC

THUẬT TẠI KHOA QUỐC TẾ, ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN)

M.A Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410

Hanoi, 2012

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page

PART A: INTRODUCTION………… ……… 1

1 Rationale of the study………… ……… 1

2 Objectives and significance of the study………… ……… 1

3 Research questions………… ……… 2

4 Scope of the study………… ……… 2

5 Methods of the study………… ……… 3

6 Organization of the study………… ……… 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT………… ……… 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW………… ……… 4

1.1 English for Academic Purposes………… ……… 4

1.1.1 Definition of EAP………… ……… 4

1.1.2 The relationship between EGAP and ESAP………… ……… 5

1.1.3 English for GBP and English for SBP………… ……… 6

1.2 Course evaluation………… ……… 6

1.2.1 Definition of course evaluation………… ……… 6

1.2.2 The importance of course evaluation………… ……… 7

1.2.3 Common features of course evaluation………… ……… 8

1.2.4 Coursebook evaluation………… ……… 9

1.2.4.1 Definition of coursebook………… ……… 9

1.2.4.2 The significance of coursebook evaluation ………… ……… 10

1.2.4.3 Criteria of coursebook evaluation………… ……… 10

1.2.5 Previous studies………… ……… 12

CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF THE STUDY………… ……… 13

2.1 Background of the study………… ……… 13

2.1.1 The International Department and its teaching and learning conditions… 13 2.1.2 An overview of the course applied for the 1st year students of IDTNU… 14 2.2 Methods of the study………… ……… 15

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2.2.1 Restating the research questions………… ……… 15

2.2.2 The subjects………… ……… 15

2.2.3 Data collecting instruments………… ……… 16

2.2.3.1 Questionnaires………… ……… 16

2.2.3.2 Interviews………… ……… 17

2.2.4 Procedures………… ……… 17

2.2.4.1 Questionnaire for students………… ……… 17

2.2.4.2 The interviews………… ……… 18

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION……… 19

3.1 Findings of the study………… ……… 19

3.1.1 The results of the questionnaire………… ……… 19

3.1.1.1 Students‟ background of learning English………… ……… 20

3.1.1.2 Students‟ assessment on time spent for each skill……… 22

3.1.1.3 Students‟ assessment on the teaching materials for each skill……… 23

3.1.1.4 Students‟ assessment on the sub-skills that they were taught……… 25

3.1.1.5 Students‟ self-assessment on the skills they have gained……… 26

3.1.1.6 The evaluation on teaching performance……… 27

3.1.2 The results of the interviews………… ……… 32

3.1.2.1 Answer to textbooks………… ……… … 32

3.1.2.2 Workload………… ……… 33

3.1.2.3 Students‟ English proficiency………… ……… 33

3.2 Discussions about the study results………… ……… 34

3.3 Summary………… ……… 36

PART C: CONCLUSION………… ……… 37

1 Summary of the main findings and conclusion……… 37

2 Pedagogical implications………… ……… 38

3 Limitations and suggestions for further research……… 39

REFERENCES………… ……… 41

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1

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

IDTNU: International Department, Thai Nguyen University MMU: Manchester Metropolitan University

DMU: Demonfort Metropolitan University

IB: International Business

IBA: International Business and Administration

U.K: United Kingdom

EAP: English for academic purposes

EGAP: English for general academic purposes

ESAP: English for specific purposes

ELT: English language teaching

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LIST OF TABLES AND FINGURES

Page Figure 1: The variety of years that students have learnt English before

going to university

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Figure 2: The subjects that students had to study for the entrance exam 21 Figure 3: Students‟ assessment on time spent for each skill 22 Figure 4: Students‟ assessment on the applicability of the textbook into

teachers

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PART A: INTRODUCTION

This part is comprised of six sections including the rationale for the study, the objectives and significance of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the methods used in the study and the organization of the study

1 Rationale of the study

Nowadays, in many countries whose mother tongue is not English, English is not a general subject but a language used to instruct other subjects In recent years

in Viet Nam, the development of education has required many universities to import curricula from other countries, whose official language used to teach those subjects

is English This raises another challenge for learning and teaching English: how to teach English for Academic Purposes The International Department, a new department under Thai Nguyen University, with the aim of applying imported advanced programs into the school, has implemented an advanced program collaborated with Manchester Metropolitan University In this program, students are going to use English as a medium of listening to lectures in their major Therefore, for the first year of studying, students are taught English in such a way that they can use it for their academic purposes in the later years In fact, the school year of 2011-

2012 is the first year the International Department has implemented the English course for academic purposes so the preliminary evaluation of the course is important for the course designers to get the feedback from students about the program

2 Objectives and significance of the study

Firstly, the thesis is carried out to investigate the effectiveness and weakness

of the English course for the purpose of preparing study skills in English for the first year students, International Department – Thai Nguyen University Secondly, the aim of the study is to find out what aspects of language skills that students still need

to learn so that they can use English as a medium of instruction in their major Last

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but not least important, some suggestions are given to improve the course of English for academic purposes at the International Department, Thai Nguyen University

This study is done in a hope that it will help better the quality of teaching and learning English for academic purposes at IDTNU Thus, it will help enhance students‟ English competence

3 Research questions

In order to draw the conclusion, the following research questions are raised:

1 To what extent does the course satisfy students?

2 What do the students still need to learn?

3 How can the course be improved?

Hopefully, based on its findings, the International Department would bring about the improvements in the course It would also help teachers have a clear view

of what aspects of the program that cause difficulties to students and which skills/ activities they should add in their lessons Finally, with regard to researchers, the information in the study would be a reference for other related researches

4 Scope of the study

The research limits its scope to the English course for general academic purposes for the first year students at IDTNU The choice of participants is simply a matter of convenience as the researcher is working as a training managing staff for IDTNU

5 Methods of the study

To achieve the aims, the qualitative and quantitative approach including survey questionnaires and interview is used to collect the data The method used in this research is formative evaluation In common, the data for the study were obtained through the following instruments:

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The questionnaires which were delivered to the first year students at IDTNU

to discover the students‟ background of learning English, their self-assessment on the course books used during the course, what they were taught and what they gained from the course

The interviews were used to get the feedback from the lecturers of the course

on the students‟ English proficiency, the course books used as well as the suitability

of the workload on each English skill

6 Organization of the study

The thesis consists of three main parts:

Part A is the introduction, which presents an overview of the study with the rationale for the research, the aims and the research questions of the study It also narrows the scope, presents the research method and outlines the content of the study

Part B is the development, which includes three chapters as follows:

* Chapter 1 is the literature review This chapter presents all the related theoretical background that precedes and necessitates the information of the research

* Chapter 2 describes the research methods used in the study with some necessary components

* Chapter 3 is devoted to a detailed description of data analysis and thorough discussion of the findings of the study In this chapter some explanation and interpretations of the findings are explored

Part C is the conclusion which presents the study conclusions and teaching implications Besides, it also offers the limitations and suggestions for further study

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PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW

In this chapter, all the related theoretical background that precedes and necessitates the information of the research is presented There are three main parts: English for Academic Purposes and Course Evaluation The first part deals with definition of English for academic purposes, the relationship between English for general academic purposes and English for specific academic purposes and the relationship between English for general business purposes and English for specific business purposes The second one refers to the definition of course evaluation, its importance, teaching evaluation and course book evaluation

1 1 English for Academic Purposes

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the past, nowadays, literacy is understood differently It involves mechanics such as decoding as well as higher-order thinking – conceptualizing, inferring, inventing, and testing Then, literacy includes not only the ability to read and write but also communication skills (August & Hakuta, 1997)

English for Academic Purposes, often identified as a sub-category of English for Specific Purposes, is defined as a student‟s need for „quick and economical use

of the English language to pursue a course of academic study‟ (Bernard Coffey,

1984, p.4) Therefore, Jordan agrees to divide EAP into two additional groups:

„common core‟ or „English for General Academic Purposes‟ (EGAP) and specific‟ or „English for Specific Academic Purposes‟ (ESAP) We can easily find out from his opinion that studying English for General Academic Purposes focuses

„subject-on reading, writing, speaking and listening skills while English for Specific Academic Purposes concentrates on vocabulary and skills specific to a subject of study In common, study skills are „key component‟ of EAP

1.1.2 The relationship between EGAP and ESAP

English for academic purposes can be divided into 2 sub types: English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) and English for Specific Academic (ESAP) as mentioned above Dudley – Evans and St John distinguished EGAP and ESAP as follows: „EGAP refers to the teaching of the skills and language that are common to all disciplines; ESAP refers to the teaching of the features that distinguish one discipline from others‟ (Dudley – Evans & St John, 1998, p 41) According to Blue, 1993, English for General Academic Purposes integrates the skills in study activities, for example, reading a text consists of understanding the main ideas and guessing the author‟s point of view or scanning for specific information Whereas, English for Specific Academic Purposes integrates EGAP skills in order to help students in their actual subject tasks In other words, ESAP is the instrument for students to study their actual lectures Tonny Dudley – Evans and Maggie Jo St John (p.42, 1998) conclude the difference between EGAP and ESAP is that ESAP

pre-in Buspre-iness English courses: course duration, participants, group size, location, mode of learning and trainers (p.57) Therefore, in the situation of the International School, English course is for the general business purposes where four English skills plus grammar and vocabulary are focused

1.2 Course evaluation

1.2.1 Definition

Course evaluation involves the evaluation on course content, teaching performance, the suitability of the course to students‟ level, workload and students‟ self assessment on their achievement (Cashin, 1995)

Therefore, course evaluation refers to course content, teaching performance, the course difficulty, workload and students‟ self assessment on their achievement, using questionnaire to collect the data

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1.2.2 The importance of course evaluation

Course evaluation which has been used in many universities in the world is

of great importance for both teachers and students Marsh (1987) points out five purposes of course evaluation First, it is a diagnostic feedback to faculty about the effectiveness of their teaching that will be useful for the improvement of teaching Second, it is a measurement of teaching effectiveness to be used in administrative decision-making Also, the evaluation gives students information to use in the selection of courses and instructors Fourth, it is a measure of the quality of the course which is used in course improvement and curriculum development Finally, the evaluation‟s findings are an outcome or process description for research on teaching

Hutchinson and Water (1987:96) gives the reason for evaluation „Evaluation

is a matter of judging the fitness of something for a particular purpose.‟ Cunningsworth (1984:64) puts toward the idea „…that the process of evaluation could not be a purely mechanical one and that professional judgment was involved

at every stage.‟ In Pamela Gravestock and Emily Gregor-Greenleaf‟s point of view (2008: 10), „the quantifiability and comparability of most course evaluations makes the imprecise art of evaluating teaching seem more objective and manageable‟

Among many kinds of teaching and learning assessment, course evaluations are considered one of the most common tools used to assess classroom teaching and believed the most heavily weighted for personnel decisions (Franklin , 2001)

Regarding to course evaluation, many linguists have conceded that there is not any better options than course evaluation for providing the same sort of quantifiable and comparable data (Abrami, 2001)

In general, most of researchers have appreciated the students‟ evaluation in being a useful measure of the instructional behavior that contributes to teaching effectiveness (Beran, Violato & Kline, 2007; Abrami, 2001; Schmelkin, Spencer & Gellman, 1997; Marsh, 1987) The results getting from formative feedback are used

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to facilitate improved teaching and course development (Pamela Gravestock and Emily Gregor-Greenleaf, 2008:10)

1.2.3 Common features of course evaluation

To many linguists, course evaluations generally assess different and separable aspects of an instructor‟s teaching behaviours and particular aspects of a course (Beran, Violato & Kline, 2007) According to Pamela Pamela Gravestock and Emily Gregor-Greenleaf, 2008: 13, course evaluation forms are almost always anonymous and most frequently incorporate both qualitative and quantitative responses They also state that „evaluations generally request specific feedback on measures of teaching effectiveness and on particular aspects of a course‟ (p13)

Regarding to course design and delivery and instructor behaviour, Cashin lists six aspects needed in evaluations: 1) questions about course content; 2) questions about the instructor‟s communication skills; 3) questions about student-teacher interaction; 4) questions about course difficulty and workload; 5) question about assessment practices in the course; and, 6) students self-assessment questions

Marsh (1987) developed the Student Evaluation of Educational Quality (SEEQ) questionnaire with a list of 9 elements: 1) learning/academic value, 2) instructor enthusiasm, 3) individual rapport, 4) examinations/grading, 5) organization/ clarity, 6) breadth of coverage, 7) group interaction, 8) assignments/reading and 9) workload/difficulty

Harry Murray (1987) referred to the evaluation with the evaluation on 60 instructor behaviours and teaching activities These behaviours and activities are grouped into 9 categories: 1) clarity, 2) expression; 3) interaction, 4) organization, 5) pacing, 6) disclosure, 7) speech; 8) rapport, and 9) teaching aids

1.2.4 Course book evaluation

1.2.4.1 Definition of course book

Course book is one of the factors playing an important role in the success of the whole course Many researchers have done a lot of studies on course book

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evaluation with a new wave of interest in the development of the English course Therefore, there are many definitions of course book given:

Ur (1986: 183) put a simple and easy –to – understand definition According

to him, course book is „a text book of which the teacher and each student has a copy and which is in principle to be followed systematically as the basis for a language course‟ Thus, the course book must be the one used by both teacher and students systematically during the course

Course book is defined by Sheldon (1988:237) as „the visible heart of any ELT programme‟ or it is considered as „an almost universal element of ELT teaching‟ by Hutchinson (1994:315) Especially, Low (1989) considers teaching materials as „one of the major determinants of what gets taught in language teaching programmes‟ (p.136)

Many linguists claim that course books are a magical tool giving learners a sense of system, cohesion and progress, and help to achieve consistency and continuation (Allwright, 1981; O‟Neil, 1982; Littlejohn, 1998) According to Hutchinson & Torres (1994), course books are inevitably superficial and reductionist in their coverage of language items and they impose uniformity of syllabus and remove initiative from teachers

Therefore, course book can be broadly defined as the textbook that both teacher and students use as a „road map‟ of the course A suitable course book plays

a very important role in the success of the course As the result, the course evaluation should include the evaluation of the teaching materials

1.2.4.2 The significance of course book evaluation

The importance of course book leads to the importance of course book evaluation As that Harmer (1991) explains the importance of course book for giving teachers ideas about what to teach and how to teach, doing course book evaluation is not a concern of educational researchers but also teachers using it The evaluation helps the selection of course book, which serves as an important step of making - decision process Sheldon mentions that:

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„The selection of a particular score volume signals an executive educational decision in which there is considerable professional, financial and even political investment This high profile means that the definition and application of systematic criteria for assessing course books are vital.‟ (1988:237)

In terms of book evaluation, Cunningsworth (1995: 14) claims that thorough evaluation pave the way for teaching staff of each organization and policy makers

to have the ability to discriminate amongst all the available books in the market and considering weak, as well as strong points of each book educators can choose the most appropriate book

Hutchinson (1997) gives an interactive idea of materials evaluation as follows:

„…materials evaluation plays such an important role in language teaching that its potential for influencing the way teachers operate is considerable Materials evaluation can and should be a two-way process which enables teachers not just to select a textbook, but also to develop their awareness of their own teaching/learning situation.‟ (37-38)

Evaluation of course book is viewed as a kind of educational judgment To conclude, it helps to make decisions in selecting course books, to form professional judgments as well as to raise awareness of the teaching and learning experience

1.2.4.3 Criteria of course book evaluation

It is beneficial to draw some guidelines for evaluation and considering criteria of book evaluation Referring to the criteria for book evaluation, Sheldon (1988) claims that no list of criteria satisfies all different situations, and then the researchers can only commit themselves to checklists or scoring systems However, still, there are a lot of linguists who have published their ideas of criteria for course book evaluation

Cunningsworth (1995: 7-15) presents that course book should correspond to learners‟ needs, help to equip learners to use language effectively for their own purposes, facilitate students‟ learning process, have a clear role in mediating the

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target language and the learner In terms of course book evaluation, a list of successful listening, speaking, reading, and writing can be also applied (Nunan, 1989)

To inhibit subjective factors from influencing judgment in the early stage of analysis, Hutchinson and Waters (1987:97) emphasize the importance of objectivity in evaluation: „Evaluation is basically a matching process: matching needs to available solutions If this matching is to be done as objectively as possible, it is the best to look at the needs and solutions separately‟ They divide the evaluation process into four major steps: defining criteria, subjective analysis, objective analysis and matching

To Breen and Candlin (1987), a set of questions divided into two phases can play a role of a guide for evaluation The first one poses some initial questions about the usefulness of the teaching materials in question, and the second one offers specific questions leading to a more searching analysis of materials with particular learners and the actual classroom in mind

In terms of when to evaluate a course book, Cunningsworth (1995) classifies evaluation into three kinds: „pre-use‟, „in-use‟ and „post-use‟ evaluation According

to him, pre-use evaluation may be the most difficult because there is no actual experience of using the course book From another perspective, in-use evaluation is

a kind of evaluation for suitability, involving, matching the course book against a specific requirement including the learner‟s objective, the learner‟s background, and the resources available On the other hand, post-use evaluation refers to an assessment of a text book‟s fitness over a period of continual use, which helps to decide whether to use the same text book in the future or not He also distinguishes the two approaches of evaluation: impressionistic overview and in –depth evaluation

1.2.5 Previous studies

Numbers of experts have done a lot of researches in course evaluation According to Richard Kiely and Pauline Rea – Dickins (2005:5), evaluation in

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language programs is „part of the novice teacher‟s checklist to guide the development of initial lesson plans and teaching practice, a process of determining learning achievements or student satisfaction, and a dimension of the analysis of data in a formal evaluation or research study‟ Many other researchers share these ideas Kiely (1998) expressed the purposes for the evaluation activity were that it was a demonstration of quality assurance at program implementation level or a means of getting feedback from students on the appropriateness of activities for their learning needs Marsh (1987:259) showed the aim of students‟ evaluation on teaching effectiveness: “Diagnostic feedback to faculty about the effectiveness of their teaching that will be useful for the improvement of teaching” According to Wright (2006), course evaluations or student ratings are one of the most common tools used to assess classroom teaching and may be the most heavily weighted for personnel decisions

From the points of the previous researchers and educators about the purposes

of course evaluation, it is very useful to have a course evaluation in the International Department in order to put some improvements in the course

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CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF THE STUDY

In this chapter, the researcher will provide some information about the background in which the study took place, which includes IDTNU and its teaching and learning conditions, and the English course design The second part of this chapter will deal with the methods of the study including the qualitative approach, data collecting instruments and the procedures of the research

2.1 Background of the study

In this section, the discussion of the International Department, where the study is conducted, is given In details, the researcher will refer to the factors that play a great part in her research, for example teaching and learning conditions, and the English course which have been used for the first year students in IDTNU

2.1.1 The International Department and its teaching and learning conditions

The International Department, a new faculty under Thai Nguyen University,

is located in Thai Nguyen city The faculty was established in August 2011 with the aims of contributing to the improvement of the quality of training, and building the capacity of human resources to develop international integration and the socio-economic community Therefore, the department has implemented two main programs: imported advanced program and joint programs In these programs, the language used to deliver the lessons is English or Chinese For imported advanced program, English is the language for instruction In addition, the International Department is currently cooperating with Manchester Metropolitan University (MMU) and De Monfort University (DMU), the United Kingdom, to recruit students for business majors In the school year of 2011-2012, the school has 40 students learning bachelor program of international business, which is a joint program with MMU, and 20 students of international business and administration in the cooperation with Honghe University Therefore, the department has 2 classes: class of International Business (IB) with 40 students and class of international

With the aim of equipping students with language skills serving their study

in English, the department has decided to spend the first school year for students to study an intensive English course For that purpose, the department has invested many types of equipment for teaching and learning, for example, wifi network, projector, speakers and air conditioner Especially, thanks to the cooperation with the universities in the United Kingdom, many delegations from the UK have visited the department, which has created many chances for students to practice speaking and listening to English

2.1.2 An overview of the course applied for the first year students of IDTNU

In this course, the intensive English course, the English program has been designed to equip students with listening, speaking, reading and writing skills so that they are able to study their major in English in the following years Therefore, the course covers 6 subjects: phonics, listening and speaking, reading, writing, grammar and Business English The purpose of the course is to provide students with study skills in English Below is the program of the course

Firstly, for the grammar subject, the instructor is Vietnamese with 180 teaching hours (50 minutes per each) The subject aims to provide students with a

basic knowledge of English grammar During the course, students have been using

the book Essential Grammar in Use by Murphy, which is designed for elementary

learners Therefore, the vocabulary used in this book is restricted

Secondly, the course has spent 45 teaching hours for phonics The subject has been delivered by Malaysian teacher using the text book Phonics, A handbook for Grades 3-6 The objective of the subject is to introduce the students to the sound

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system of the English language (vowels, consonants…) and provide them chances

to compare English and Vietnamese sounds and practice them

For the speaking and listening subject, New English File _ Beginning Student’s Book and New English File _ Elementary Student’s Book have been used

to help students improve their English skills for conversation Students have spent

240 hours learning this subject with a Philippino teacher

Fourthly, the reading subject with 240 teaching hours has been introduced by

a Malaysian teacher The teacher has been using the books Read all about it and Reading 2_ Advantage The purpose of this subject is to widen students‟ vocabulary

and improve their reading skills, as well

Write Traits is the book used for writing skill The workload for this subject

is 100 hours The teacher has taught students how to write a paragraph and organize

the ideas logically The teacher of this subject is the one who teaches Phonics and Reading

Finally, Business English is the subject introduced by an Australian teacher with 150 teaching hours Market Leader _Elementary Student‟s Book is the main text book for the subject In this subject, students have learnt vocabulary in the areas

of business

2.2 Methods of the study

2.2.1 Restating the research questions

As mentioned in part 1, in order to test the hypothesis the research focuses on three following questions:

1 To what extent does the course satisfy students?

2 What do the students still need to learn?

3 How can the course be improved?

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2.2.2 The subjects

The subjects are 40 freshmen and 2 teachers at IDTNU They are both male and female students coming from different hometowns in Viet Nam Especially, these students at high schools have prepared for different subjects for the national entrance university examination Some students sat for the exam in which they did the exams on Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry (group A) Other students had the exams on Mathematics, Chemistry and Biology (group B) Others took the exams on Mathematics, Literature and English (group D) The rest did the exams on Literature, History and Geography (group C) Therefore, their English is not at the same level The two teachers who were chosen to be the subjects of the research are English speaking teachers who have taught English to those students

For students, questionnaires were given while teachers were interviewed to get the feedback from the English course

2.2.3 Data collecting instruments

The study employed two instruments to obtain the data They are the questionnaire and interview The combination of these instruments will increase the preciseness and reliability of the data collected because the data obtained from one method will help to inform and refine the other

2.2.3.1 Questionnaires

The questionnaire was used to get the students‟ attitudes and evaluation toward the intensive English course According to Nunan, „the questionnaire is a relatively popular means of collecting data‟ (Nunan 2002: 143) The questionnaire was designed with 5 main parts which focused on the following aspects that the researcher would like to investigate: (Appendix 1)

+ Part 1 including 2 questions worked out the students‟ background of learning English

+ Part 2 providing students with 6 questions was aimed at students self – assessment on the suitability of workload and the textbooks used for the first year

All the interview questions were in English because the two teachers are English speaking teachers The interviews were recorded to get the full information for the research

2.2.4 Procedures

The study was conducted in four months, beginning from 20th April, 2012 and finishing by 20th August, 2012 at the International Department, Thai Nguyen University The procedures are as follows:

2.2.4.1 Questionnaire for students

After students finished the intensive course, they were given the questionnaire The researcher then collected the information from this questionnaire

to find out the students‟ self-assessment on the program, workload, the teaching

The methods of the study were mentioned in detail above The next chapter analyses these various types of data collected and interpretations are made with an attempt to answer the research questions

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CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION

This chapter presents and discusses the findings that arise from two types of data collected instruments: questionnaire and interviews

3.1 Findings of the study

3.1.1 The results of the questionnaire

The aims of the questionnaire were to explore students‟ self-assessment to the English course in terms of workload for each language skill, teaching materials, and the objectives of the course as well as the teaching performance

3.1.1.1 Students’ background of learning English

Figure 1: The variety of years that students have learnt English before going to university

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Figure 2: The subjects that students had to study for the entrance exam

According to the figure 2, the first year students of the IS took the entrance examination on different groups of subjects: Group A stands for Math, Chemistry and Physics, Group B is for Math, Chemistry and Biology, Group C is a social one with Literature, History and Geography and Group D consists of Math, Literature and English 37,5% of students are from group D which includes English as one of the subjects 55% are from the nature science group while only 7,5 % are from social science