Thiết kế chương trình đọc hiểu tiếng anh chuyên ngành cho sinh viên ngành quản lý và sử dụng đất trường đại học nông lâm

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: The English teachers, the subject teachers and the target students‟ attitude towards the necessity of an ESP reading syllabus Chart 2: The English teac

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI

UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES

FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES

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

ĐỖ THỊ HUYỀN

DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE STUDENTS

OF LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE AT BAC GIANG UNIVERSITY

OF AGRICULTURE AND FORESTRY

THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NGÀNH QUẢN LÝ VÀ SỬ DỤNG ĐẤT,

TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NÔNG - LÂM BẮC GIANG

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY Code: 601410

Supervisor: KHOA ANH VIỆT, M.A

TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii

ABSTRACT iii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS iv

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES v

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION 1

1 Rationale 1

2 Aims and objectives 2

3 Scope of the study 2

4 Methods of the study 3

5 Design of the study 3

PART B: DEVELOPMENT 4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 4

1.1 An overview of ESP 4

1.1.1 Definition and characteristics of ESP 4

1.1.2 Classification of ESP 6

1.2 An overview of syllabus design 7

1.2.1 Definition of syllabus 7

1.2.2 Syllabus design 9

1.2.3 Approaches to ESP syllabus design 9

1.2.3.1 Language-centred approach 9

1.2.3.2 Skills-centred approach 10

1.2.3.3 Learning-centred approach 10

1.2.4 Types of syllabus 10

1.2.4.1 Structural/grammatical syllabus 11

1.2.4.2 Situational syllabus 12

1.2.4.3 Functional-notional syllabus 12

1.2.4.4 Topic or content-based syllabus 14

1.2.4.5 Skills-based syllabus 14

1.2.4.6 Task-based syllabus 15

1.2.5 Shapes of syllabus 16

1.2.6 Steps to design a syllabus 17

1.2.6.1 Needs analysis 17

1.2.6.2 Goals and objectives setting 18

1.2.6.3 Content specification 18

1.2.6.4 Syllabus organizing 19

1.3 Reading in ESP 20

1.3.1 Definition of reading 20

1.3.2 Reading skills in ESP 21

1.4 Summary 22

CHAPTER 2: NEEDS ANALYSIS AT BUAF AND THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

23 2.1 The ESP teaching and learning context at BUAF 23

2.2 The target students 24

2.3 The English staff at BUAF 24

2.4 The materials 25

2.5 The study 25

2.5.1 The subjects 25

2.5.2 Instruments for collecting data 26

2.6 Summary 27

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 28

3.1 Needs perceived by the English teachers, the subject teachers and the target students

28 3.1.1 Attitude towards the necessity of an ESP reading syllabus for the second year students of Land Management and Use

28

3.1.2 Opinions on the objectives of the ESP reading course 28

3.1.3 Opinions on needed topics in the ESP reading syllabus 29

3.1.4 Opinions on needed grammar items in the ESP reading syllabus 30

3.1.5 Opinions on needed reading skills and reading exercises in the ESP reading syllabus

30 3.1.6 Opinions on types of reading skills and reading exercises in each unit

31 3.1.7 Opinions on the number of units in the ESP reading syllabus 32

3.2 Summary 32

CHAPTER 4: THE PROPOSED SYLLABUS FOR THE STUDENTS OF LAND MANAGEMENT AND USE AT BUAF 34

4.1 Aims and objectives of the ESP reading syllabus 34

4.2 Type of the ESP reading syllabus 34

4.3 Content in the ESP reading syllabus 35

4.3.1 Topics in the syllabus 35

4.3.2 Reading skills and reading exercises in the syllabus 35

4.3.3 Grammar and structures in the syllabus 37

4.4 Time allocation of the ESP reading syllabus 37

4.5 Organization of the ESP reading syllabus 37

4.6 The proposed ESP reading syllabus for the second-year students of Land Management and Use at BUAF

38 4.7 Sample unit 38

4.8 Summary 38

PART C: CONCLUSION 39

1 Conclusions 39

2 Limitations 40

3 Suggestions for further study 40

REFERENCES 41

APPENDICES I

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

EAP: English for Academic Purposes

EBE: English for Business and Economics

EEP: English for Educational Purposes

EFL: English as a foreign language

EOP: English for Occupational Purposes

ESP: English for Specific Purposes

ESS: English for Social Sciences

EST: English for Science and Technology

GE: General English

BUAF: Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry

LIST OF CHARTS AND TABLES Chart 1: The English teachers, the subject teachers and the target students‟ attitude

towards the necessity of an ESP reading syllabus

Chart 2: The English teachers‟ and the target students‟ opinions on types of reading

skills and reading exercises in each unit

Chart 3: The English teachers‟ opinions about the appropriate number of lessons for the syllabus

Table 1: The English teachers and the target students‟ opinions on the objectives of

the ESP reading course

Table 2: The English teachers, the subject teachers and the target students‟ choice

of topics relating to Land Management and Use

Table 3: The English teachers‟ choice of the grammatical structures in the reading

ESP syllabus

Table 4: The English teachers and the target students‟ choice of reading skills and

reading exercises in the ESP reading syllabus

Table 5: The proposed ESP reading syllabus for the second-year students of Land Management and Use at BUAF

PART A: INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale for choosing the topic

English is now considered to be one of the most popular languages in the world In Vietnam, it has been more and more widely used and occupied an especially important status in the development of international relationship More importantly, English has an influence on our education curriculum as a compulsory subject

English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has developed as an independent discipline apart from general English, and it has gained popularity throughout the world, especially in tertiary education where there is a great variety of majors Fully aware of the importance of the English language teaching and learning in general and ESP in particular, BUAF has introduced ESP courses into the curriculums of four undergraduate programs, including Accounting, Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Crop Science, and Land Management and Use In the context

of BUAF, 4 year program students with university training level take the compulsory General English (GE) course with 7 credits After finishing their GE course, they are supposed to take the ESP course of 2 credits According to the training curriculum, the ESP is to be delivered in the fourth semester of the second academic year after three semesters of GE At this time the students majoring in Land Management and Use at BUAF are at the end of their second semester and our ESP teachers are facing a lot of difficulties due to the lack of an appropriate ESP teaching syllabus In fact, there is not an available ESP syllabus of Land Management and Use for our ESP teachers As far as I know, at other institutions providing the Land Management and Use major, the materials used for the ESP course are selected by teachers of English from different sources and they use these materials as their syllabus for lesson plans As an English teacher, I was in charge of designing a syllabus and teaching materials for students of Land Management and Use It is clear that a syllabus contributes to the success and fulfills the objectives of

an ESP course Therefore, designing an appropriate ESP syllabus for the students of Land Management and Use at BUAF is an urgent task

More importantly, it is believed that the ability to read and comprehend the written documents is considered as one of the most important factors of success at tertiary education level Accepting the fact that reading skill is of great importance for all students, ESP teachers have been paying attention to the reading skill as it is the most important skill needed for ESP students‟ future academic career

Seeing the point, the author is encouraged to undertake this study entitled

“Designing an ESP Reading Syllabus for the students of Land Management and Use at Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry”

2 Aims and Objectives

The study aims at designing an appropriate ESP reading syllabus for the second-year students majoring on Land Management and Use at Land Resources and Environment Department at BUAF To achieve this aim, three following objectives are set to be obtained

- To get an overview of the theories related to ESP reading and syllabus design;

- To conduct a needs analysis to identify the students‟ learning situation, the learning needs perceived by the teachers who are responsible for the ESP course, the subject teachers, and the second-year students of Land Management and Use;

- To propose an appropriate ESP syllabus for the target students based on the relevant theories and the needs analysis

It is hoped that the findings of this study will be of some benefits to the teaching ESP to the second year students of Land Management and Use at BUAF

3 Scope of the study

The scope of this study is limited to a study on designing an ESP reading syllabus for the second - year students of Land Management and Use at BUAF It is conducted with the second year students of Land Management and Use, subject teachers and English teachers within BUAF context Within the scope of a minor

thesis, only the basic theories related to ESP reading and syllabus design are presented Other approaches to syllabus designs intended for students and other subjects at any other levels of English language proficiency would be beyond the scope

4 Methods of the study

For this study the following approaches were adopted First, relevant literature and studies were reviewed in order to get in-depth information Second, the results were surveyed through questionnaires Finally, the information obtained from the survey was analyzed and checked against information obtained from literature and other sources

5 Design of the study

The thesis is organized into:

Part A, introduction, presents the rationale, aims and objectives, scope, methods and the design of the study

Part B, development, includes three chapters:

Chapter 1 reviews theoretical backgrounds relevant to the research topic including the overview of ESP, syllabus design, needs analysis and reading theories;

Chapter 2 deals with the methodology describing situational analysis, subject of the study and instruments for collecting data;

In chapter 3 the findings and analysis of the results collected from the survey are presented;

Chapter 4 proposes a reading syllabus for the second-year students of Land Management and Use basing on the findings of the study

Part C, conclusion, presents conclusion of the study, points out some limitations and proposes some further suggestions for research on the topic

PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview of ESP

1.1.1 Definitions and characteristics of ESP

Although ESP now is a really familiar concept in English Language Teaching, there is not a universal applicable definition of ESP It has been defined

by different researchers and scholars from different points of views

Hutchinson and Walter argue that ESP should be seen as an approach to language learning, which is based on learner need, not as a product They mean

ESP does not involve a particular type of language, teaching material or methodology It is the view of these authors that the foundation of ESP involves the learners, the language required and the learning context, which are based on the primacy of needs in ESP According to them “The foundation of all ESP is the simple question: Why does this learner need to learn a foreign language? From this question will flow a whole host of further questions, some of which will relate to the learners themselves, some to the nature of the language the learners will need to operate, some to the given learning context” (Hutchinson and Walter, 1987: 19) On the whole, they conclude ESP is “an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and method are based on the learner's reason for learning"(Hutchinson and Walter, 1987:19)

Needs analysis is also mentioned in many authors‟ definitions of ESP Robinson (1991:3), while discussing the criteria of ESP, mentions the element of students‟ needs She believes that ESP courses develop from a need analysis “which aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English” (cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998: 3)

Supporting these ideas, Richards et al (1992:125) define the parent discipline of ESP as „the role of English in a language course or programme of instruction in which the content and aims of the course are fixed by the specific needs of a particular group of learners‟

Dudley-Evans agrees with the above authors and scholars when he theorizes

“English for specific purposes (ESP) has tended to be a practical affair, most interested in investigating needs, preparing teaching materials, and devising appropriate teaching methodologies ” (2001:ix)

Although there have been many definitions of ESP given by different authors, the Strevens‟ definition seems to cover detailed characteristics of an ESP course He identifies and makes a distinction between its absolute and variable characteristics:

Four absolute characteristics are:

1- designed to meet specified needs of the learner;

2- related in content (that is in its themes and topics) to particular disciplines, occupations and activities;

3- centered on language appropriate to those activities in syntax, lexis, discourse, semantics and so on, and analysis of the discourse;

4- in contrast with „General English‟

Two variable characteristics are:

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

2- may not be taught according to any pre-ordained methodology

(Strevens: 1988:1-2 cited in Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:3)

After that, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998: 4-5) offer a definition of ESP stating that although ESP could be used with young adults in the setting of a secondary school, it is likely to be used with adult learners at tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation They also note that ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students and most ESP course assume some basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners

In conclusion, referring to ESP definitions and the characteristics of an ESP course, we should remember ESP is an ultimately learner-centered approach which

is based on the particular needs of students This means an ESP course can not be performed successfully if ESP teachers do not make the course meet their students‟

demands For this reason, the ESP teachers should pay more attention to the learner‟s needs when designing syllabus for any ESP courses

1.1.2 Classification of ESP

Traditionally; ESP is usually divided into two main areas according to when they take place: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP)

Pre-experience EOP Simultaneous/ In-service

Post-experience Pre-study ESP For study in a specific discipline In-study

Altogether, it is generally accepted that ESP can be divided into EAP and EOP

On the divisions mentioned above, English for Land Management and Use belongs

to EOP

In sum, studying different types of ESP is an essential step providing ESP teachers with an overall picture of their target students to conduct a needs analysis

to have a well-designed ESP syllabus for the target students

1.2 An overview of syllabus design

Advocating the broader view, Yalden (1984:14, cited in Nunan, 1988:5)

believes that “[The syllabus] replaces the concept of „method‟, and the syllabus is now seen as an instrument by which the teacher, with the help of the syllabus designer, can achieve a degree of „fit‟ between the needs and the aims of the learners (as social being and as individual), and the activities which will take place

in the classroom”

Sharing the same view as Yalden, Breen (1984:49, cited in Nunan, 1988:6) states: “Any syllabus will express - however indirectly - certain assumptions about language, about the psychological process of learning, and about the pedagogic and social process within a classroom” The writers adopting the broader view believe that syllabus and methods should not be kept separate and argue that with the advent of communicative language teaching the distinction between content and tasks is difficult to sustain

In contrast, clarifying the distinction between “syllabus” and “methodology”, Allen (1984:61) explains “a syllabus…is concerned with a specification of what units will be taught (as distinct from how they will be taught, which is a matter for methodology)” (Cited in Nunan, 1988:6)

Supporting this view, Nunan (1988:5) argues that “Syllabus design is seen as being concern with the selection and grading of the content, while methodology is concerned with the selection of learning tasks and activities”

Secondly, many authors give a distinction between “syllabus” and

“curriculum” Krahnke (1987:2) provides an attempt to clarify these two terms: “A syllabus is more specific and more concrete than a curriculum, and a curriculum may contain a number of syllabuses” He also indicates that a curriculum may specify only the goals meanwhile a syllabus specifies the contents of the lessons used to move the learners toward the goal Similarly, Nunan (1988:8) states that:

“„Curriculum‟ is concerned with the planning, implementation, evaluation management, and administration of education programmes „Syllabus‟, on the other hand, focuses more narrowly on the selection and grading of content”

Dubin and Olshtain (1986) share the same view with Krahnke and Nunan in stating that “A curriculum provides a statement of policy, while a syllabus specifies details of course content” (Dubin and Olshtain, 1986:40)

To sum up, syllabus can be narrowly then broadly defined Basically, a syllabus can be seen as “a statement of content which is used as the basic for planning courses of various kinds, and that the task of the syllabus designer is to select and grade this content” Nunan (1988:6) In order to design a reading syllabus for students of Land Management and Use at BUAF, the author attempts to adopt the view as “syllabuses are specifications of the content of language teaching which have been submitted to some degree of structuring or ordering with the aim of making teaching and learning a more effective process” (Wilkins, 1981 cited in Read, 1984:3-4) Particularly, aims of the course, expected outcomes, names of

major topics and activities/tasks, time allocation, suggested teaching/learning methods and materials are included in the suggested syllabus

1.2.2 Syllabus design

In Munby‟s words, syllabus design is “a matter of specifying the content that needs to be taught and then organising it into a teaching syllabus of appropriate learning units” (Munby, 1984 cited in Read, 1984:59)

Nunan (1988:5) defines that “Syllabus design is seen as being concern with the selection and grading of the content”

Sharing the same view Brown (1995) notes that syllabus design can be defined as selection and organization of instructional content including suggested strategy for presenting content and evaluation (Cited in Kaur, 1990)

In brief, syllabus design is concerned with the selection, sequencing and justification of the content of the curriculum In other words, to design a syllabus is

to decide what gets taught in what order

1.2.3 Approaches to ESP syllabus design

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:65), there are three main types of approaches to ESP syllabus design: language-centred approach, skill-centred approach and learning-centred approach

1.2.3.1 Language-centred approach

Hutchinson and Waters (1987:65-66) shows that language-centred approach

is the simplest and probably the most familiar to English teachers The aim of this approach is “to draw as direct a connection as possible between the analysis of the target situation and the content of the ESP course” This approach is considered a logical procedure starting with the learner, proceeding through various stages of analysis to a syllabus, then to materials in use in the classroom and finally to evaluation of mastery of the syllabus items

In spite of the strong point mentioned above, language-centred approach has a number of weaknesses Firstly, although perceived as a learner-centered approach, the learners are simply used as a mean of identifying the target situation They are

taught a restricted area of the language and play no further part in the process Secondly, this process seems to be static and inflexible Thirdly, it ignores the importance of other learning factors contributing to the creation of any course Lastly, the language-centered analysis of target situation data is only at the surface level It presents little about the competence underlying the performance

1.2.3.2 Skill-centred approach

This approach aims at getting away from the surface performance data and looking at the competence that underlies the performance (Hutchinson & Waters 1987:69) because it focuses on developing learners‟ skills and strategies In spite of

taking more into account the learners than language-centered approach, centred approach still views the learner as a user of language rather than as a learner of language The processes it is concerned with are the processes of language use, not of language learning (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987:70)

skill-1.2.3.3 Learning-centred approach

Basing on the recognition of the complexity of the learning process, the aim of learning-centered approach is „to maximize learning‟ (Hutchinson and Water 1987:72) Learning-centred approach in comparison with the two above-mentioned ones is more advantageous in the sense that the learner is fully taken into account It does not only pay attention to the learner to identify the target situation and to analyze the learning situation, but also considers the learner at every stage of the design process

In all, in order to design an appropriate ESP syllabus, it is important to take account into approaches to syllabus design With its best points, the learning-centered will be applied in designing the ESP reading syllabus for students of Land Management and Use at BUAF

1.2.4 Types of syllabus

Some different ways of classifying syllabuses are employed by different researchers In this study the author would like to discuss some main types of syllabus

1.2.4.1 Structural/grammatical syllabus

Krahnke (1987:10) states that “A structural (or formal) syllabus is one in which the content of language teaching is a collection of the forms and structures, usually grammatical, of the language being taught” According to Nunan (1988:8), the structural/grammatical syllabus is a type of syllabus in which syllabus input are

“selected and graded according to grammatical notions of simplicity and complexity”

The structural syllabus is historically one of the most popular types of syllabus Using this type of syllabus, the learners usually find easy to learn because teaching strategy is based on the working principle from the familiar to the unfamiliar and using the familiar to teach the unfamiliar In Richards‟ words “teachers and students expect to see a grammatical strand in a course and react negatively to its absence” (Richards, 2001:153) Also, the content of a structural syllabus is relatively easy to describe In addition, “instruction in language structure offers a basis for teachers or others to provide learners with feedback on the accuracy of their production” Krahnke (1987:23-24)

In spite of its strong points, there are criticisms about the structural syllabus Firstly, it misrepresented the complex nature of the language as a system and tended

to focus on only one aspect of language, that is, formal grammar (Nunan, 1988:30)

In other words “it can mislead learners into thinking they are learning a language when, in fact, they are learning facts or information about a language” Krahnke (1987:25) Secondly, this type of syllabus cannot be effective when communication fluency is desired because there is no one-to-one relation between form and function Richards (2001:153) points out it is not easy to “identify a productive range of grammatical items that will allow for the development of basic communicative skills” Thirdly, there is a problem of arranging items that facilitates learning Moreover, there is a divergence between the grammar of the spoken and of the written language

1.2.4.2 Situational syllabus

Richards (2001:156) defines situational syllabus is “one that is organized around the language needed for different situations such as at the airport or at a hotel” In details, he explains “A situation is a setting in which particular communicative acts typically occur A situational syllabus identifies the situation in which the learner will use the language and the typical communicative acts and language used in that setting” This language is always used in a specific context and cannot be fully understood without reference to that context (Krahnke, 1987:10) shares the same view with Richards in stating that this type of syllabus consists of real or imaginary situations that the learners will have to deal with in real life and the language as well as the typical communicative acts used in that setting

Situations provide contexts of discourse in which form and meaning coincide Therefore, the situational syllabuses “have the advantage of presenting language in context and teaching language of immediate practical use” (Richards, 2001:156) Besides, it heightens motivation because the content is quite relevant to the interests and needs of the learners and it is learner-rather than subject-centred

However, there is a problem of selecting and sequencing or grading situations in terms of difficulty or as to which ones need to be 'learned' before others Besides,

“too great a use of predetermined and artificial situations can lead to lack of transfer,

as students are led to rely on prelearned routines and patterns of language use rather than creative and negotiated uses of language” (Krahnke, 1987:45) Furthermore, grammar is dealt with incidentally, so a situational syllabus may result in gaps in a student‟s grammatical knowledge In addition, “language used in a specific situation may not transfer to other situations” Richards (2001:157)

1.2.4.3 Functional-notional syllabus

Krahnke (1987:10) defines “A notional/functional syllabus is one in which the content of the language teaching is a collection of the functions that are performed when language is used, or of the notions that language is used to express” In contrast to the two above mentioned syllabuses, functional-notional syllabus focuses on the real communicative function of language such as informing, agreeing,

apologizing, requesting, complaining, suggesting, etc or the notions that language

is used to express such as size, age, color, time and so on

The advantage of this type of syllabus is that “it sets realistic learning tasks”, and “provides for the teaching of everyday real-world language” (Finocchiaro and Brumfit, 1983:17, cited in Nunan, 1988:36) That means it reflects a more comprehensive view of language than a grammatical syllabus and focuses more on the use of language rather than linguistic form (Richards, 2001:155) Moreover, a notional/functional syllabus helps learners to have more experience with, and knowledge about, which linguistic forms do what in the new language, and to expose to at least some real or simulated interaction in the language The learners may view the language less as an abstract system of elements and rules, and more as

a communicative system (Krahnke, 1987:35) This type of syllabus can also

“readily be linked to other types of syllabus content (e.g., topics, grammar, vocabulary (Richards, 2001:155)

However, functional/notional syllabuses have also been criticized for some reasons Firstly, there are difficulties in selecting and grading content of the syllabus Secondly, simple series of isolated functions in the functional-notional syllabus do little with the development of communicative competence In Richards‟ opinion functional/notional syllabuses “represent a simplistic view of communicative competence and fail to address the processes of communication” (Richards, 2001:155) Thirdly, the functional content in which short utterances and units of discourse are included can‟t help the students to handle the new language in longer, connected discourse Finally, students learning from a functional/notional course may have considerable gaps in their grammatical competence (Richards, 2001:155)

1.2.4.4 Topic or content-based syllabus

Basically, a topic-based syllabus is organized by themes, topics or other units

of content which provides the vehicle for the presentation of language rather than grammar, functions or situations (Richards, 2001:157) Perceiving the importance

of the themes or topics to the students, the syllabus designers select these relevant

ones to design and organize the text The topic-based syllabus is considered as a common and convenient method of organizing ESL/ EFL textbooks

Richards (2001:158) summarizes and lists other authors and scholars‟ ideas about the advantages of this type of syllabus Firstly, it motivates learners and addresses students‟ needs Secondly, it allows for integration of the four skills and for use of authentic materials Thirdly, content makes linguistic form more meaningful and serves as a basis for teaching skill areas Finally, it facilitates comprehension

However, this type of syllabus also presents a problem of monitoring the balance between content and grammar or other strands in the syllabus One more weak point of this type of syllabus is that it is also difficult to make sure that all the topics and texts chosen will give a sufficient exposure to the language that is a representative of the target situation In addition, it is not easy for ESL teacher to qualify to teach content-based courses and to decide what should be the basis for the assessment-learning of content or learning of language (Richards, 2001:158)

“Relevance to student-felt needs or wants is an advantage of the skill-based syllabus because learners who know what they need to do with the language generally show great acceptance of instruction that is clearly directed toward their goals” (Krahnke, 1987: 54) The skills-based syllabus also focuses on performance

in relation to specific tasks and therefore provides a practical framework for designing courses and teaching materials

However, there are issues that arise in developing a skills-based syllabus Firstly, there is no serious basis for determining skills Secondly, it focuses on discrete aspects of performance rather than developing more global and integrated communicative abilities (Richards, 2001:161)

1.2.4.6 Task-based syllabus

Richards (2001:161) also defines “a task is an activity or goal that is carried out using language such as finding a solution to a puzzle, reading a map and giving directions, or reading a set of instructions and assembling a toy” According to him,

a task-based syllabus, therefore, is “one that is organized around tasks that students will complete in the target language” Supporting Richards‟ view, Nunan (2001) claimed that task-based syllabuses represent “a particular realization of communicative language teaching Instead of beginning the design process with lists of grammatical, functional-notional, and other items, the designer conducts a needs analysis which yields a list of the target tasks that the targeted learners will need to carry out in the „real-world‟ outside the classroom.” ESP syllabus designer must take into account many things such as subject matter, materials, activities, goal, needs, interests and ability of learners when designing a task-based syllabus

Advantages of task-based syllabus have been recognized by researchers and educationalists Because tasks are selected based on the needs analysis of learners, these authentic tasks can satisfy students‟ demands, promote their motivation and interest, which are of great importance to the second language acquisition Besides, the application of a repertoire of tasks in task-based syllabuses is considered as a practical mean of broadening learners‟ potential to varied dynamic communicative situations or dynamic social and occupational roles In the process of completing the task, students are encouraged to negotiate their meaning, to cooperate with other members in the group Consequently, their communicative competence is developed

Despite merits outlined above, task-based syllabuses are not without problems It is not easy for syllabus designers to choose suitable tasks which must

be not too difficult and not too simple for the language learners Moreover, based syllabuses require more skillful instructors because an instructor lacking of the communicative skills can‟t direct learners to attain these skills Additionally, it seems to have no place for teaching grammar in task-based syllabuses Thus, learners who are familiar to traditional grammatical syllabus may find it difficult to follow task-based syllabuses

task-Obviously, it is difficult to say which type of syllabus is better than the others because each of the above types of syllabus has its own merits and drawbacks Although the six types of syllabus are mentioned and discussed in isolated contexts, it is rare for one type of syllabus to be used exclusively in actual teaching settings These types of syllabus are usually combined in more or less integrated ways, with one type as the organizing basis around which the others are arranged and related Krahnke (1987:75) concludes: “For almost all instructional programs, it is clear that some combination of types of instructional content will be needed to address the complex goals of the program”

With an effort to design a suitable syllabus for students of Land Management and Use at BUAF and to maximize the efficiency of these types of syllabus, the combination or integration of topic-based syllabus and skill-based syllabus as the main ones with others will be a good solution

1.2.5 Shapes of syllabus

Dubin and Olshtain (1997:51-61) present five possible types of syllabus

including linear format, modular format, cyclical format, matrix format, and line format In this thesis, the author adopts the modular format in which

story-academically oriented units are integrated owing to the fact that it is well suited to courses which integrate thematic contents

1.2.6 Steps to design a syllabus

Discussing about syllabus design in the light of the communicative approach, Munby (in John A.S Read, 1984:58) suggests that “designing a syllabus involves a logical sequence of three stages: 1 Needs analysis; 2 Content specification; 3 Syllabus organization” Nunan (1988:75-96) suggests four steps in syllabus design including (i) needs analysis, (ii) setting goals, (iii) selecting and grading content and (iv) selecting and grading learning tasks

It is obvious that the actual syllabus design, if one attempts to provide a good syllabus, is preceded by a lot of preparatory analytical work and is absolutely impossible without a needs analysis Basing on the result of this analysis, syllabus designer will set up the aim and the objectives as well as select and grade the content The typical steps in designing the syllabus that I will carry out in my thesis are followings:

“Needs analysis is concerned to find out the learners‟ needs in the use of the target language (i.e who is communication with whom, why, where, when, how, at what level, about what, and in what way?)”

Obviously, needs analysis is a very necessary first step prior to designing an ESP syllabus It helps to inform decisions concerning the formulation of both process and product objectives, and these in turn, assist with the specification of syllabus content and procedures There are a variety of ways of getting information

on needs from the various participants (students and sponsors etc.) including questionnaires, interviews, observation, data collection (target texts) and informal consultations, depending on time and resources available Relevant documentation and information received from colleagues are also important Questionnaires are the method of identifying needs for this study

1.2.6.2 Goals and objectives setting

Setting the basis goals and objectives of the syllabus is a vital step in syllabus designing According to Graves K (1996), “goals are general statements or the final destination, the level students will need to achieve Objectives express certain ways of achieving the goals, in other words, objectives are teachable chunks, which in their accumulation form the essence of the course” (cited in Sysoyev: 2000) Nunan (1988:61) distinguishes “goals” and “objectives” as follow:

“Goals statements are relatively imprecise While they act as a signpost, they need to be fleshed out in order to provide information for course and programme planners This can be achieved through the specification of objectives”

Nunan (1988:61) states that “objectives can be useful, not only to guide the selection of the structures, functions, notions, tasks, and so on, but also to provide a sharper focus for teacher Accordingly, goals and objectives of the syllabus determine the selections of the learning contents, teaching procedures and activities” In other words, formulating goals and objectives for a syllabus will help teachers to be sure what the course is going to be about, what material to teach, and when and how it should be taught Clear, precise and appropriate goals and objectives are also a guide for evaluation as well

1.2.6.3 Content specification

After having determined the language needs of the learner, the goals and objectives of the syllabus; the next step would be to decide on the content of the syllabus Syllabus designers can specify or select the content in an ESP syllabus through a series of checklists which deal with communicative functions, discourse skills, and study skills

According to Shaw (1975), content selecting is concerned with two questions:

“How much can we teach or how much can be learnt by the learners in question?” and “Which items should be included?” He summarized the general procedure for selection of content as follows: (1) determine previous knowledge of learners, (2) decide amount of content in general terms, (3) list items in rough order of specific frequency, (4) group for relative difficulty, (5) check that both functional and notional categories are present, and (6) check coverage of grammatical items

1.2.6.4 Syllabus organizing

Munby (1984:59) points out that organizing a syllabus means that “decisions are made about the clustering or grouping of content into learning units, about grading and sequencing, introduction and recycling, etc.” (cited in Read, 1984:59)

Richard, Platt and Webber define grading as “the arrangement of the content

of a language course or textbook so that it is presented in a helpful way Gradation would affect the order in which words, word meanings, tenses, structures, topics, tasks, skills are presented Gradation may be based on the complexity of an item, its frequency in written or spoken English, or its importance for the learner.” (Richard,

Platt and Webber 1985:125)

In the same way, sequencing of content can be seen as the marking out of subject matter along a path of development The criteria for sequencing content in a syllabus would be related to "simplicity" or "complexity" of structures if the syllabus represents a view of language as a formal system On the other hand, the

"usefulness" or frequency" criteria would be effective if the syllabus represents a functional view of language The syllabus sequenced on a particular view of learning may have to start with subject matter which is easier, more urgent and more familiar to the learner before moving on to something which is more difficult, less urgent and unfamiliar That is why Wilkins states that staging and sequencing should be carried out according to the criteria of simplicity, regularity, frequency and contrastive difficulty (Wilkins, 1976:8)

One more thing that a syllabus designer has to focus on is recycling of the content Recycling means accessing previous items in new ways, for example, in different types of activities

All in all, organizing a syllabus does not only provide a description of the language but also facilitates teaching and learning

1.3 Reading in ESP

1.3.1 Definition of reading

There are many definitions of reading which are seen from different points of view Williams (1984:3) gives a simple definition of reading as follow: reading is “a process whereby one looks at and understands what has been written” He also stresses that reading is a process in which “the reader…is actively working on the text, and is able to arrive at understanding without looking at every letter and word.”

According to Nuttall (1982:3), reading is “concerned with meaning, specifically with the transfer of meaning from mind to mind: the transfer of a message from writer to reader”

Aebersold and Field (1997:15) summarizes and reveals the features and the ideas of reading in the definition “Reading is what happens when people look at a text and assign meaning to the written symbols in that text The text and the reader are the two physical entities necessary for the reading process to begin It is, however, the interaction between the text and the reader that constitutes actual reading.”

From all the opinions mentioned above, reading can be considered as an active process of text comprehension made possible by reader‟s utilizing their background knowledge and using appropriate strategies or the communication of a message between an author and a reader Three elements involving in the reading process are the text being read, the background knowledge of the readers and the contextual aspects relevant for interpreting the text

1.3.2 Reading skills in ESP

Johns and Davies (1983) believe that “for ESP learners, extracting information accurately and quickly is more significant than language details; that understanding the macrostructure comes before language study; and that application

of the information in the text is of paramount importance” (cited in Dudley Evans &

Jo St John,1998:96) The authors also emphasized that ESP learners process the language before linking the ideas to what is already known

Believing that poor reading in the L1, together with an inadequate knowledge of the foreign language results in poor reading in a foreign language, Dudley Evans & Jo St John (1998:96) assert that ESP learners should learn and apply the following skills:

- Selecting what is relevant for the current purpose;

- Using all the features of the text such as heading, layout, typeface;

- Skimming for content and meaning;

- Scanning for specifics;

- Identifying organizational patterns;

- Understanding relations within a sentence and between sentences;

- Using cohesive and discourse makers;

- Predicting, inferring and guessing;

- Identifying main ideas, supporting ideas and examples;

- Processing and evaluating the information during reading;

- Transferring or using the information while or after reading

(Dudley Evans & Jo St John, 1998:96-98)

They also emphasized that an ESP course must require a balance between skills and language development ESP teachers, therefore, should provide and familiarize their students with necessary reading skills suitable to their reading purposes to deal with texts in their field of study In this study, some necessary reading skills of the ESP reading course for the students of Land management and Use at BUAF will be selected to conduct the needs analysis

1.4 Summary

In this chapter, the author has revealed the literature review of ESP, syllabus design and reading skills in ESP which will be the theoretical background for the study ESP definitions proposed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Streven (1988), Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) are discussed The different viewpoints on syllabus of such linguists as Yalden (1987), Breen (1984), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), Nunan (1988), Richards (2001) and Krahnke (1987) are also mentioned Besides, the Dudley-Evans and St John‟s ideas of reading skills in ESP are dealt with As regards designing the intended syllabus, the learning-centered approach, and four main steps namely needs analysis, goals and objectives setting, content specification and syllabus organization have been identified After considering different types of syllabus, the intended syllabus will be designed in an integrated way with topic-based syllabus as the principal organizing feature

CHAPTER 2: NEEDS ANALYSIS AT BUAF AND

THE RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 2.1 The ESP teaching and learning context at BUAF

BUAF, which is located in the commune of Bich Son – Viet Yen district - Bac Giang province, is a public university in the higher education system in Vietnam This training institution namely National College of Agriculture and Forestry was established in 2000 English has been the foreign language taught at the college since then However, ESP has been only a compulsory subject of two college level majors including Informatics Technology and Food Technology On May 1st, 2011, the college was upgraded into Bac Giang University of Agriculture and Forestry At this time, BUAF has 4 majors training university level including Accounting, Animal Science and Veterinary Medicine, Crop Science, and Land Management and Use Being aware of the importance of ESP, BUAF has introduced the ESP course into the curriculum of all these majors

According to the curriculum designed by the Ministry of Education and Training, the students at any university relating to the field of agriculture and forestry have 7 credits of learning General English (GE) and 2 credits of learning ESP Accordingly, the English program for students of Land Management and Use

at BUAF is divided into four stages: A1, A2, A3 and ESP The whole curriculum of English is as follows:

Stage 1: General English with 2 credits

Stage 2: General English with 2 credits

Stage 3: General English with 3 credits

Stage 4: ESP with 2 credits

Up to now, being a new subject, ESP for students of Land Management and Use has never been taught at BUAF Designing an appropriate syllabus is now a really urgent and practical task which requires much more attention Luckily, we are always supported from the Directing Board who are responsible for evaluating and

analyzing the syllabus so that it can be adapted and submitted by the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development

With such a timeframe, our ESP teachers think that what we could do is mainly to help students develop their ESP learning skills with focus on how to read specific document in Land Management and have a number of specialized terms or concepts in English

2.2 The target students

The subjects of this study are the second-year academic course 1 students of Land Management and Use at BUAF The age of these students is from 18 to 22 They are of different levels of English because of their own background These students have had at least three years of learning English before entering university Most of them come from rural areas, even from remote areas In common, many of them are at low level of English proficiency and their attitude towards learning English is not very highly appreciated

At BUAF, they learn GE in the first three semesters using the course books New Headway Elementary, New Headway Pre-Intermediate and New Headway Intermediate by John and Liz Soars (The Second Edition, 2006) They are supposed

to acquire the most basic English at intermediate level Although they haven‟t finished their GE, like students of other faculties of previous courses at BUAF, their language competence after GE course is always not the same These mixed-level students all learn ESP as a compulsory subject of their academic studies in the second semester of the second academic year It is a challenge for the teachers in such a mixed class because the teachers cannot satisfy all students‟ needs Additionally, the students start to learn ESP without having learnt all their major subjects Therefore, most of them have to face difficulties in ESP classroom due to the lack of knowledge in Land Management and Use

2.3 The English staff at BUAF

The English section of BUAF is a small one with only five teachers All the English teachers here have been well trained in Vietnam and none of them has

studied abroad Two of them have obtained Master Degree in TESOL (Teaching English for Speakers of Other Language); two are doing an MA course in English The rest one has Bachelor degree in English Each of our teachers is responsible for teaching both GE and ESP Two of us are in charge of taking up ESP teaching for students of Land Management and Use although we have not taken any courses on specialized field Therefore, we have to cope with a lot of difficulties

2.4 The materials

So far, we haven‟t had an official course book for teaching ESP to the students majoring in Land Management and Use In fact, there are course books from neighboring institutions such as the Ho Chi Minh University of Agriculture and Forestry, Hue University of Agriculture and Forestry, and Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry However, these in-house materials do not completely meet the needs of teachers and learners at BUAF The course book from

Ho Chi Minh University of Agriculture and Forestry just includes reading texts relating to specialized field There are not any comprehension questions or exercises followed these texts Moreover, most reading texts are too long and with too many new words In the same way, some reading texts in the course book from Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry are rather long There are also very few tasks for students to do in this course book

Because of the limitations of the above course books, we will adjust these materials to fit the level and the needs of students at BUAF The intended course book will be the collection of reading texts taken from the mentioned course books and other resources

2.5 The study

2.5.1 The subjects

Eighty out of 150 second-year Land Management and Use - major students

in academic course 1 took part in the study The study was conducted at the beginning of the first semester of the second academic year when they had just finished the stage 2 of GE Five teachers of the English Department and eight

subject teachers of the Land Resources and Environment Department at BUAF also contributed to the completion of this study

2.5.2 Instruments for collecting data

The research method applied is the survey The data collection instruments are questionnaire The questionnaire has been chosen because it is widely known as the best way to collect data on phenomena which are not easily observed such as attitude, motivation and self-concept

The questionnaires for teachers of English, the target students and the subject teachers were designed with both close-ended and open-ended questions Questionnaire 1 (see Appendix 1) and Questionnaire 2 (see Appendix 2) were designed for the English teachers and the target students to consult their ideas about the importance and the objectives of the ESP course, the topics they were interested

in, the grammatical items and the activities needed to be included in the ESP syllabus, and the time allocation for an ESP course Questionnaire 3 (see Appendix 3) was given to all of the subject teachers of the Land Resources and Environment Department to ask for their ranking in order the importance of the ESP reading syllabus and to search their suggestions of the appropriate topics for the proposed syllabus

Before answering the questions, teachers of English, the target students and the subject teachers were explained carefully about the pedagogical purposes of the questionnaire The researcher confirmed to them that the research was carried out to have an effective ESP course and that all their information is only used for research Gratefully, most of them showed their concern about the study and willing to complete the survey with helpful information The questionnaire was delivered to them and collected after a few days in order that they had enough time to give their answers Then the information was collected, analyzed and used as the foundation

to propose an appropriate ESP syllabus for students of Land Management and Use

at BUAF

2.6 Summary

After analyzing the present situation of the ESP teaching and learning at BUAF,

I realized that designing a syllabus appropriate to the needs of the learners is a really urgent task This again justifies my rationale for the designing of an ESP syllabus for the second-year of Land Management and Use at BUAF

CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 Needs perceived by the English teachers, the subject teachers and the target students

3.1.1 Attitude towards the necessity of an ESP reading syllabus for the second year students of Land Management and Use

With the aim to find out the English teachers, the subject teachers and the target students‟ attitude towards the necessity of an ESP reading syllabus for the second year students of Land Management and Use, responses to question 1 (in appendix 1) and question 3 (in appendix 2) were collected and analyzed The results are shown in Chart 1 (see chart 1- appendix 4)

Chart 1: The English teachers, the subject teachers and the target students‟ attitude

towards the necessity of an ESP reading syllabus

It is clearly seen from the chart, all the English teachers, 87.5% of the subject teachers and 58.8% of the students admit that an ESP reading syllabus is very necessary for the students‟ future job 12.5% of the subject teachers and 38.7% of the students agree that an ESP reading syllabus is necessary None of them thought that an ESP reading syllabus is not necessary It can be said that most of the English teachers, the subject teachers as well as the target students are aware of the importance of ESP reading course

3.1.2 Opinions on the objectives of the ESP reading course

Question 2 (in appendix 1) and question 4 (in appendix 2) asked the participants to rank the objectives in order of importance from the most important to

the least importance The results are detailed in table 1 (see table 1- appendix 4)

It is clearly recognized from the results shown in the table that item 2, to be able to read and understand written materials related to Land Management and Use, receives the highest percentage in the first priority (80%) from the English

teachers and the highest percentage in the second priority (52.5%) from the students This item, therefore, can be considered the most important objective in the ESP reading course

Receiving the total percentage of 100% in both the first and the second

priority from the English teachers and 88.7% from the students, item 1, to be able to accumulate basic vocabulary of Land Management and Use is one of the most

important objectives that should be focused on in the ESP reading syllabus

Another item that should be taken into account when designing the reading

ESP syllabus for the target students in this study is item 4, to be able to review and consolidate basic grammatical structures used in specialized texts for Land Management and Use It receives 80% in the third priority from the English teachers‟ responses and 71.2% from the students‟ responses

These above results indicate that, items 1, 2 and 4 should be taken into consideration when designing the ESP reading syllabus for the target students Thus, the items 2, 5 and 6 with low percentages in all the three first priorities should not

be emphasized in the syllabus

3.1.3 Opinions on needed topics in the ESP reading syllabus

Question 3 (in appendix 1), question 5 (in appendix 2) and question 2 (in appendix 3) are designed to find out the most relevant topics to be included in the ESP reading syllabus of the target students Seventeen topics relating to Land Management and Use were listed for the participants to rate basing on their level of relevance to the ESP reading course The results are shown in Table 2 (see table 2 - appendix 4)

The results illustrated in table 2 show that from the participants‟ point of view the most relevant items which are chosen with the highest percentage of relevant level are items 1, 5, 7, 8, 9 and 14 The rest topics receive the highest percentages of negative responses (not relevant) are topics 10, 11, 13, 15, 16 and 17 This results also reveal that the topics with rather high percentages of positive

responses should be included in the syllabus

3.1.4 Opinions on needed grammar items in the ESP reading syllabus

Question 4 (in appendix 1) aims to identify the important grammatical structures for the syllabus from the English teachers‟ perspective Table 3 (Appendix 4) presents the results of the questionnaire

From the table, obviously, almost all the items are chosen with rather high percentages, except for items 1, 2, 6, 9, 12 and 14 Getting from 60% to 100% of the

negative answer of not appropriate, the items 1, 2, 6, 9, 12 and 14 should not be

dealt with in designing the syllabus In contrast, the rest items with high percentages

of positive responses should be taken into consideration

3.1.5 Opinions on needed reading skills and reading exercises in the ESP reading syllabus

Question 5 (in appendix 1) and question 6 (in appendix 2) asked the English teachers and the target students to get information concerning the reading skills and reading exercises needed to be in the syllabus The results are in table 4 (see table 4- appendix 4)

From the data collected it is noted that both the English teachers and the target students find most of the items essential and important for the syllabus, except for items 1e, 3b, 4a, 6c, 6d, 8d and 8e which receive the percentage of positive answers lower than 35% Specially, the items getting special concern from all the English teachers such as 1b, 2a, 3c, 5a, 5b, 6b, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7e and 8b are chosen by over half of the target students Obviously, the syllabus designer should pay more attention on these items This also means that the ESP teachers and the

students would like to deal with the variety of reading skills and reading exercises

to improve their reading comprehension

3.1.6 Opinions on types of reading skills and reading exercises in each unit

Questions 6 (in appendix 1) and question 7 (in appendix 2) are intended to find out the English teachers and the target students‟ opinions on the types of reading skills and reading exercises in each unit Their responses are presented in chart 2 as follow:

Chart 2: The English teachers‟ and the target students‟ opinions on types of

reading skills and reading exercises in each unit

As can be seen clearly from the chart, designing many kinds of reading skills and reading exercises for each reading unit was considered necessary by a majority

of the English teachers (80%) and over a half of the students (53.8%) Designing only one kind of reading skill or reading exercise for each reading unit was not the choice of any English teachers or any students 20.0% of the English teachers and 46.2% of the students contributed their idea for the rest item It means that both the English teachers and the students believe in the effectiveness of a combination of many kinds of reading skills and reading exercises in ESP

3.1.7 Opinions on the number of units in the ESP reading syllabus

As being discussed in the former chapter, the time allocation for the ESP course at BUAF is limited within 2 credits With such a short time, appropriate number of lessons should be thought thoroughly Question 6 (in appendix 1) asked