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To meet their needs, learner- centered English speaking syllabus was added for technicians in Garment companies.. The aims of the study This study is aimed at designing a learner- center

LÊ NGUYÊN HƯƠNG

Designing A LEARNER-CENTERED SPEAKING SYLLABUS

FOR TECHNICIANS IN GARMENT COMPANIES

THI ẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH NÓI TIẾNG ANH THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG LẤY

NGƯỜI HỌC LÀM TRUNG TÂM CHO CÁC KỸ THUẬT VIÊN

TẠI CÁC DOANH NGHIỆP MAY

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology

PART I- INTRODUCTIONS

1 Rationale 1

2 The aims of the study 2

3 The research questions 2

4 The scope of the study 2

5 The method of the study 2

6 The design of the study 3

Part II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview on syllabus design 4

1.1.1 Definition of syllabus 5

1.1.2 Types of syllabus 5

1.1.2.1 Structural syllabus 5

1.1.2.2 The functional-notional syllabus 6

1.1.2.3 Situational syllabus 6

1.1.2.4 Topical syllabus 6

1.1.2.5 Task- based syllabus 7

1.1.2.6 Skill-based syllabus 7

1.1.3 Learner- centered approach in foreign language teaching 8

1.1.3.1.General considerations 8

1.1.3.2 Learner- centered approach in foreign language teaching 9

1.1.3.3 How the learner- centered approach differs from the teacher- centered approach 11

1.1.4 The steps in designing a learner- centered syllabus 12

1.1.4.1 Needs analysis 13

1.1.4.1.1 Target needs 13

1.1.4.1.2 Learning needs 14

1.1.4.2 Goal and objective determining 15

1.1.4.3 Content selecting and grading 15

1.1.4.4 Teaching method suggesting 16

1.2 An overview of ESP 17

1.3.1 What is speaking 18

1.3.2 Speaking skills 18

1.3.3 Characteristics of a successful speaking activities 19

CHAPTER II: METHODOLOGY 2.1 The setting of the study 21

2.1.1 The teaching and learning conditions 21

2.1.2 The current syllabus 21

2.1.3 The target learners 21

2.1.4 The teacher staff 21

2.2 Methodology 26

2.2.1 The subjects 22

2.2.2 Document analysis 22

2.2.3 Instruments for collecting data 22

2.2.4 Data collecting procedure 23

CHAPTER III: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION 3.1 The findings 24

3.1.1 Data gathered by means of English teachers’ questionnaire 24

3.1.1.1 Teachers’ opinions on objectives needed meeting at the end of ESP speaking course 24

3.1.1.2 Teachers’ selection of topics needed in the speaking syllabus…25 3.1.1.3 Teachers’ selection of grammar and structures needed in the syllabus 26

3.1.2 Data gathered by means of learners’ questionnaire 26

3.1.2.1 Learners’ opinions on objectives needed meeting at the end of ESP speaking course 27

3.1.2.2 Learners’ selection of topics needed in the ESP speaking syllabus 28

3.1.2.3 Learners’ selection of grammar and structures needed in the syllabus 28

3.1.3.Data gathered by means of employers’ interviews 29

3.2 The summary 31

CHAPTER IV A PROPOSED SPEAKING SYLLABUS FOR

TECHNICIANS IN GARMENT COMPANIES

4.3.1 Content selecting 33

4.3.1.1 Some topics included in the syllabus 33

4.3.1.2 Grammatical structures in the syllabus 33

4.3.2 The organization of the syllabus 34

4.3.3 Time allocation 38

4.4 Suggestions for learning and teaching 38

4.4.1 Suggestions for learning 38

4.4.2 Suggestions for teaching 38

4.5 Suggestions for assessment and test 40

PART III: CONCLUSION 1 Conclusion 41

2 Limitations and recommendation for further studies 41

REFERENCES

PART I: THE INTRODUCTION

1 Rationale

Hanoi Industrial College for textile, garment and fashion was founded over 40 years ago Initially, it had only one level: the vocational training After many efforts, it was upgraded into Junior College in 2005 Students are trained of different branches: Garment, Fashion designing, Mechanics, Accounting, Finance and banking English is one of the main subjects in our college Besides that, English is taught to technicians in Garment Companies for their needs Technicians in Garment Companies are those people who have good abilities, who graduated from different universities, secondary schools and even from vocational training centers Their levels in English are different They use English in their work frequently, for example, read documents, communicate and discuss with foreign customers about their contracts, their products….They can read and translate the documents, but communicating is very difficult for them So they need a speaking course, especially a speaking course in their branch To meet their needs, learner- centered English speaking syllabus was added for technicians in Garment companies So our learners need one syllabus that is suitable to their specialization

Being English teachers, we know that designing an appropriate speaking syllabus is really difficult The syllabus does not only fulfill the objectives of the course but also the learners‟ needs to help them improve their English and specialization Moreover, learners can deal with the enormous bulk of knowledge in English reference books to support their jobs Learners cannot use their English to communicate well So speaking syllabus has to meet the requirements that help learners to consolidate their GE and improve their vocabulary and speaking skill in ESP English In the bookshops, there are many English textbooks but I think that they are not suitable to our learners because of the content of those books The content of those books are just about social communication That is why

it is difficult for our learners to use them in their jobs

Because of the above – mentioned reasons, the topic “Designing a learner center English speaking syllabus for the technicians in Garment companies” was chosen

2 The aims of the study

This study is aimed at designing a learner- centered speaking syllabus for the technicians in Garment companies To obtain the aim, following objectives are to be achieved:

- To investigate the needs of the learners and the condition of learning

- To propose an appropriate speaking syllabus for learners based on their needs and special requirements

3 The research questions

To achieve the above aims and objectives, the following questions are raised:

1 What are the learners‟ learning in term of English speaking skill?

2 What components should the proposal syllabus have in order to meet the students‟ needs?

4 The scope of the study

This study focuses on designing an English speaking syllabus under the light of learner- centered approach with 45 periods for the technicians in garment companies

5 The method of the study

Quantitative method is employed in this study The quantitative is used to collect the data by questionnaires The results of questionnaire 1 are the findings about the needs

of students, their opinions and expectations about the English speaking course The English teachers‟ suggestions and ideas are collected from questionnaire 2 to find out the topics of the lessons in the syllabus Apart from survey questionnaires, personal interviews with employers of some garment companies also deployed to contribute to the validity and consistency of the data collected

6 The design of the study

This study consists of three main parts:

Part I: Introduction presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions, scope of the study, research methods and the design of the study

Part II: Development comprises of:

Chapter I: Literature review provides the overview of syllabus design, ESP, learner centered English speaking syllabus

Chapter II: The setting and methodology of the research

Chapter III: The study presents the findings of students‟ needs, teachers‟ suggestions for the speaking syllabus

Chapter IV: The proposal speaking syllabus based on the students‟ needs, teachers‟ and employers‟ suggestions and the course objectives

Part III: The conclusion aims at summarizing the main ideas of the study,

The last one is the Appendix that includes the questionnaires, tables

PART II: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW 1.1 An overview on syllabus design

1.1.1 Definition of syllabus

Syllabus is a popular notion in teaching language, it plays an important role in the success of the teaching and learning There are several ways of defining the syllabus on the views of different writers: the narrow and the broad approach to syllabus design Yalden (1984:14), a broad view scholar, defines 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” He considers the teachers as an assistant of the syllabus designer, teachers can adjust the syllabus and the learners‟ needs and aims in the classroom

On the other hand, with a clear distinction between the syllabus design and methodology, Nunan (1988:5) points out that “Syllabus design is seem as being concern with the selection and grading of the content, while methodology is concerned with the selection of learning tasks and activities” He also affirmed: “Syllabus is 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”

According to Hutchinson and Waters (1993:90), a syllabus is a document which says what will (or at least what should) be learnt, it should state out the goals, content, and activities to be carried out in a particular, and well-defined context And Allen (1984:61) supposes:

“Syllabus is concerned with a specification of what units will be taught (as distinction from how they will be taught, which is the matter for methodology)

The following detailed guideline for syllabus designer was given by Dudin and Olshtain (1980:28):“what it is called, it is a document which ideally describes:

 What the learner are expected to know at the end of the course, or the course objectives in operational terms

 What is to be taught or learned during the course, in the form of an inventory of items?

 When it is to be taught, and at what rate of progress, relating the inventory of items to the different levels and stages as well as the time constrains of the course

 How it is to be taught, suggesting procedures, techniques, and materials

 How it is to be evaluated, suggesting testing and evaluating mechanism

In short, there are many different views in syllabus design Each one has its own strong and weak points So syllabus designers have to take account the objectives and the learners‟ needs to design an appropriate syllabus that meet the demand I will not follow anyone‟s and I will mix the above view to find out the best points

1.1.2 Types of syllabus

1.1.2.1 The Structural syllabus

Traditionally, structural syllabus is also called grammatical one This is one of the most popular ways of designing syllabus for long because grammatical forms are the key

to master a language Structure syllabus focuses on teaching students the forms, structures and grammatical of language such as how to use and form nouns, verbs, adjectives or tenses, voice….Discussing the structural syllabus, Yalden (1983: 36) wrote “ structural syllabus are based on the assumption that it is enough to grade the material from a linguistic point of view, i.e to look at the grading from a point of view of the structures and words to be taught” The activity in a class where the structural syllabus is used is, therefore, confined to the appraisal of utterances or structural criteria in isolation from each other Students learn question form, negation, imperative, passive……….etc They also learn phrasal verbs, complex sentences……etc But they are not taught how to answer and express appropriately to a given function in a given situation

The teachers may use different methods in the class, which follow the structural syllabus, but the constraints are the same: the content of the syllabus has been determined

by giving the priority to teaching the grammatical structures of the language

Besides, the structural syllabus seems to bias the teacher-centered rather than the learned-centered approach so it is not highly appropriate in teaching language nowadays

1.1.2.2 The functional-notional syllabus

In contrast with the structural syllabus, functional-notional one emphasizes the real communicative function of language The content of the language teaching is a collection

of the functions that usually occur in daily life, for example: informing, agreeing, apologizing, requesting, and so on And the notions of the language relating to size, age, color, time, comparison….The advantage of this type of syllabus is that learners are easy to use their language in the communicative situations with the useful functions or notions However, functions and notions are quite abstract and some learners may have difficulties thinking of communicative functions outside a specific context And the different kinds of structures are often used to express the same communicative function, so that it is difficult

to follow a progression from simpler to more complex structures

1.1.2.3 Situational syllabus

Situational syllabus focuses on the content of the language teaching that collects the real or imaginary situations in which language is used The language interactions are closely related to social context and the participants can understand them in the certain context or setting So it usually concerns with the question “when and where will the learner need the target language” and attempts to specify the situations such as seeing the dentist, buying books at the bookstore, asking the directions, checking in the airport and so

on

The advantage of this type of syllabus is that the content is quite relevant to the interests and needs of the learners It is easy for the learners to master and communicate the language that they are going to use in the real situation But the limit of this syllabus is the unpredictable situation and the problem of grading of the items It is clear that the primary purpose of a situational language syllabus is to teach the language that occurs in the situations Examples of situations include: going shopping, buying books, asking

directions, making complaints……

1.1.2.4 Topical syllabus

Topical syllabus uses topics or themes as its starting points The syllabus designers select the topics that are relevant and necessary for the learners Resulting of this is the learners will be interested in the lessons because of their purposes relating to the topics As Robinson(1931:37) stated about this kind of syllabus: “ It motivates the students and as a

basic for the „real syllabus‟ of the language forms, tasks or whatever the course designers wish to focus on”

Supporting Robinson‟ view, Brown(1994:222) claimed that “ this syllabus can serve the multiple interests of students in a classroom and can offer a focus on content while still adhering to institutional needs for offering a language course”

On the other hand, this syllabus presents the danger of grading the content and defining the semantic construct such as Nunan pointed out that “ The logic of the subject may provide a non-linguistic rationale for the selecting and grading content” and “ topic is also broad, difficult to define and semantic construct”( Brown and Yule ,1983:73)

1.1.2.5 Task- based syllabus

In task-based syllabus, the activities or tasks are considered the main organizing principle The tasks are focused rather than the language or topics They are a series of complex and purposeful tasks that the students want to practice with the language they are learning, for instant, applying for a job, talking to a social worker, getting housing information over the telephone so on Concerning about this syllabus, Robinson stated:

“The procedural or task syllabus, consisting a set of tasks or activities ordered according to cognitive difficulty Class time is devoted to performance of the task and attention is only directed to language if this is necessary for completion of the task A major concern throughout is that students understand the task and what they are doing, and

do not act in mechanical way” (Robinson 1991: 39)

Additionally, task-based syllabus shares a concern with the classroom processes which stimulate learning The focus is on the linguistic items that students will learn or the communicative skills that they will be able to display as a result of instruction The syllabus consists of the specification of the tasks and activities that learners will engage in

in class However, the problem for the task-based syllabus designer is that a variety of factors will interact to determine task difficulty: the degree of contextual support and the amount of assistance provided to the learner, the cognitive difficulty of the task, the complexity of the language, the amount and type of background knowledge required

1.1.2.6 Skill-based syllabus

Skill-based syllabus focuses on language skills The main purpose of this type of syllabus is to provide opportunities for learners to develop skills and strategies in learning

specific kills: listening such as talking orders in a restaurant, listening to foreign radio or television for news; speaking: giving instructions, personal information; writing well-formed paragraphs, presenting oral talk and reading as skimming and scanning or reading texts for main ideas The ability to use language in specific ways is partially dependent

on general language ability, but partly based on experience and the need for specific skills Efficiency and relevance of instruction are major strengths of the skill-based syllabus

In short, six different types of syllabus are presented above Each one has its own strong and weak points depending on the syllabus objective and syllabus designer‟s view and it is impossible to distinguish which one is better than the others In fact, these types rarely occur independently of each other Normally, syllabus designers combine two or more of the types presented so that they have the best syllabus for the learners In my proposal syllabus, the syllabus will be the combinations of the topical syllabus and skill-based and task-based syllabus as well

1.1.3 Learner- centered approach

1.1.3.1 General considerations

In fact, the “learner- centered approach” is not a new term, it has its seeds as early

as the ancient times with progressive mined Educationists but not until the early 20thCentury did it start to develop “Learner- centered view point” values the demands, desires, and psychological features of the learners, but it is not domineering as in the traditional teaching

The idea of “ learner- centeredness” in education, in general, with attention to develop to the full students‟ creativity, which rooted in the Ancient times, has found expression in the opinion an viewpoints by progressive-mined Educationists so far from Occident to the Renaissance such as: Socrat (469-390 BC- Greece), Comenski (1592-1670), John Locke (1632) etc

In the late 20th century, international meetings also laid emphasis on the “learner- centered” idea It is agreed that the learner lies in the center, he is both the subject and the goal of the study course The learner- centered viewpoint enhances the human value of education and makes learner realize his own potential ability, helping him really find joy and happiness The thing of prime important in the “learner- centered teaching” is to help

the learner know how to think, how to study and develop his desire for study making him nurture a strong will and capability of self- study all his life

1.1.3.2 Learner- centered approach in foreign language teaching

In general, learner- centered doesn‟t mean that the activity is performed by the learner and the teacher is freed from teaching In foreign language teaching, according to H.V.Van (1999), the notion of learner-centeredness reflects at least in three aspects:

a) Organization of in- class and out- of- class activities

b) Syllabus design

c) Material development

The prime aspect of the learner- centered orientation generates from the view that the learner will have more active participation, and their motivation to study will become stronger if their in- class and out- class activities are suitably organized That is, both the teacher and the syllabus designer should take into account this aspect of class organization: how to divide the class members into small groups or pairs in an effort to help the learners feel the safest while communicating in a foreign language Moreover, a very important aspect in the learner- centered orientation lies in the angle of designing a syllabus, compiling the material and textbooks The fundamental view as the foundation for designing a syllabus, compiling the material and textbooks in the learner- centered orientation is that learners should be viewed as the point of reference for making decision relating to both the teaching content and teaching form To be more specific, learners will study more effectively if they are allowed to negotiate with teachers about suitable decisions relating to the teaching content ( what to teach) and teaching methods ( how to teach)

In terms of syllabus design, the learner- centered concept is represented at two levels: Macro level and micro level At the macro level (designing the overall curriculum), the learner- centered advocacy is manifest in quite a few respects, the most important of which

is the system of subjects within a field is to be diversified and flexible so that the learners doing compulsory subjects may have a wide choice not only of the subjects of their interest but also of the durations of their performance in the subject and the schedule they intend to conclude their course at their convenience

At the macro level (designing a syllabus for each subject), the learner- centered concept finds its full expression in two respects Firsts, the subjects designed should be associated with practical experiences in reality, that is, they should be designed for the learners to study what the society is demanding and will demand for rather than what the teachers have Second, according to some world famous designers of language syllabus ( e.g: Nunan: 1988,1989,1992), syllabus design should be viewed as a negotiation process between the teachers and the learners In this viewpoint, the decision relating to the teaching content and method may be made at the micro level through the fact that the teachers confer with the learners and then decide what and how to teach This viewpoint on the learner- centered orientation is totally different from the traditional viewpoint of syllabus design in which what and how to teach is determined by teachers only

Nunan ( 1989) affirms that while the learner- centered orientation includes the components and processes similar to those of the traditional one, the main difference between these two types of syllabus design lies in the information for and from the learners

to be introduced into the stages of the syllabus design Therefore, the subject syllabus becomes an effort of cooperation between the teachers and the learners because the learners should participate in the decisions of choosing the content, method and assessment

Tudor (1996) suggests four major advantages if the learner- centered orientation is applied to the teaching – learning of foreign language:

a) The teaching aims may be suitably set if the learners can participate in building the subject syllabus based on their own experiences

b) The study will be more effective if the teaching method is suitable to learning method of the learners‟ interest content

c) The learners will obtain quite a few results from their study activities if they have chance to raise their voice in deciding the teaching and organization d) The study will be more effective if the learners feel involved in building their own syllabus

1.1.3.3 How the learner- centered approach differs from the teacher- centered approach

DIMENSION UPON WHICH LEARNER- CENTERED & TEACHER- CENTERED

APPROACH MAY DIFFER

Learner-centered approach Teacher- centered approach

Emphasis upon affective and

Discovering & solving problems Concentrating on their lesson The learner is active to participate The learner is the passive

The teacher is the operator &

pusher

The teacher is dominant

The classroom atmosphere is

friendly and self – control

The atmosphere is formal, rigid

Applying teaching techniques

frequently

Applying teaching techniques is to

a minimum Learners & learners interaction

CLASSROOM ACTIVITIES

Teacher and learners interaction Much learner participation Much teacher participation

Group decided activities Teacher determines

Discussion of learner‟s personal

experiences encouraged

Discussion kept on course materials

Self- discovered knowledge

OUTCOME Available knowledge

Higher level of developing

cognition, emotion, behavior

Level of cognition development is low

The dimension above has shown the advantages as well as the good points of

learner- centered approach The learner- centered approach or turning to the learner as a center is the tendency stressing on learner‟s autonomy The whole teaching process directs

to the learner‟s demands, ability, and interest The aim is to develop in learner‟s skills, and capability of independent study and problem solving The class atmosphere is flexible and open in psychological aspects The learners and the teachers make a survey of various aspects of problems The teacher not only simply presents learners with solutions to the problem but also creates situations to develop problems, collect materials Learners may help solve problems, put up a hypothesis to clear the problem up from which to draw out conclusions In general term, the essence of the learner centered teaching is that the teacher should see to his students‟ requirements and desire to each individual‟s psychology features Education‟s role is to help learner build his own life by providing him with means

of action, observation, and experiments

1.1.5 The steps in designing a learner- centered syllabus

Designing a language syllabus is a complex process It asks designers to follow some obligatory steps such as investigating needs analysis, selecting and grading content… Each designer has their own view on this issue According to Munby (1978), Richard (1984), Nunan (1988) needs analysis should be the initial step with other different steps Here are the typical steps in designing a syllabus that I will carry out in my thesis

1 Needs analysis

2 Goals and objectives determining of the speaking syllabus

3 Content selecting and grading

4 Teaching methods suggesting

1.1.4.1 Needs analysis

Needs analysis (NA) is a process of gathering information of learners in order to understand as much as possible about them at the beginning of the program so that the designer can establish appropriate and realistic objectives for the syllabus This process is especially necessary for ESP learners because different types of participants have different motivations and language needs and what they want to learn is only restricted area The main aim of the NA is identification of elements which will are extremely important for the learners Discussing on the NA, Nunan (1988:75) points out: “Needs analysis refers to

a family of procedures for gathering information about learners and about communication tasks for the use in syllabus design” Unlike Nunan, Hutchinson & Waters divide NA into target needs (what the learner needs to do in the target situation) and learning needs (what the learner needs to do in order to learn)

1.1.4.1.1 Target needs

“Target needs is something of an umbrella term, which in practice hides a number

of important distinctions It is more useful to look at the target situation in term of necessities, lacks and wants” (Hutchinson &Waters 1987:55)

a Necessities

Necessities is the type of need determined by the demands of the target situation, that is, what the learner has to know in order to function effectively in the target situation For example, an aquaculture worker or engineer might need to understand a technical text about guiding to grow a kind of fish or shrimp, to communication effectively with foreign specialists or to get information from materials such as books, internet and so on It is necessary for the learner to know the linguistic features: discoursal, functional, structural, lexical used in the situation identified And the learner will need to explore and function in the real situations and then analyzing the constituent parts of them

b Lacks

It is not enough to identify necessities only because the concern in speaking course

is with the needs of particular learners So the syllabus designer need to know what the learner knows already in order to find out which of the necessities the learner lacks For

instant, the target situation necessity may be to read texts in a particular subject area The learner will not need instruction in doing this if he or she can do it already In other words, the target proficiency needs to be matched against the existing proficiency of the learners The gap between the two can be referred to as the learners‟ lacks (Hutchinson, Waters and Breen 1979)

c Wants

The target needs have been considered as an objective sense with the actual learners playing no active role But the learners have to present what their needs are As Richterich (1984:29) comments:

“…a need does not exist independent of a person It is people who build their images of their needs on the basic of data relating to themselves and their environment.”

Awareness is a matter of perception, and perception may vary according to one‟s standpoint Learners may well have a clear idea of the „necessities‟ of the target situation: they will certainly have a view as to their „lacks‟ But it is possible that the learners‟ views will conflict with the perceptions of other interested parties: course designers, sponsors, and teachers There is no necessary relationship between necessities as perceived by sponsors or teachers and what the learners want Because of the important of the learner motivation in the learning process, learner perceived wants cannot be ignored

1.1.4.1.2 Learning needs

As mentioned above, learning needs is what the learner needs to do in order to learner Additionally, Hutchison &Waters compare the course as a journey, what we have done so far to consider the starting point as lacks and the destination as necessities and wants as certain dispute in the process to the destination And how to get from the starting point to the destination is called learning needs

Learning needs and target situation have a close relation to each other To look at the target situation, the designer should ask what the expert communicators need to know

to function effectively in the situation This information may be recorded in terms of language items, skills, strategies, subject knowledge In fact, the analysis cannot show how the expert communicators learnt the skills, strategies…that they use Analyzing what people do tells us little about how they learnt to do it, so the whole process is concerned not with knowing or doing, but with learning The needs, potential and constraints of the

route (the learning situation) must also be taken into account, if we are going to have any useful analysis of learner needs

To analyze learning Needs, Hutchinson & Waters (1993:63) use a similar framework which is used for target situation analysis:

- Why are the learners taking the course?

- How do the learners learn?

- What resources are available?

- Who are the learners?

- Where the learner- centered speaking course take place?

- When will the learner- centered speaking course take place?

So the syllabus designers have to answer the above questions to find out the learners‟ learning needs to plan a best syllabus for them

1.1.4.2 Goal and objective determining

Determining learning goals and objectives is a vital step in syllabus design, which helps the designer choose a suitable content for the learner 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

Sharing the same idea with Graves, 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 provide a sharper focus for teachers

Goal is also defined by Brown, J D (1995:37) as general statements concerning desirable and attainable program purposes and aims based on perceived language and situation needs

The process of defining goals asks the syllabus designer and the participants consider carefully the program‟s purposes with the specific reference to what the students should be able to do when they finish the course Thus, goals and objectives of the syllabus determine the selections of the learning contents and teaching procedures

1.1.4.3 Content selecting and grading

After determining the goals and objectives of the course, content selecting and grading are examined That is the process of choosing linguistic content such as topics,

vocabulary, grammar, tasks for each lesson Shaw (1976) considers the selection of content

to be concerned with two questions:

1 How much can we teach or how much can be learnt by the learners?

2 Which items should be included?

Nunan (1988:85) claims: “Synthetic syllabuses were described as those in which content is selected and graded according to discrete point principles.” Wilkins assumes that these would be grammatical, but Widdowson has argued that any syllabus which consists

of inventories of discrete points items, be grammatical, functional or notional, is basically synthetic So the content selection depends on the type of the syllabus and its objectives, the target situation as well

On selecting an appropriate content, the syllabus planners have to organize and grade it effectively so that it is easy for learning and teaching And grading content is defined 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) For example, standard texts on language teaching have tended to categorize classroom activities according to the demands they make on the learner It is generally assumed that receptive skills of listening and reading make fewer demands than the productive skills of speaking and writing

1.1.4.4 Teaching method suggesting

Applying an effective teaching method play a key role in the success or failure of the teacher in teaching language As we know that teaching methods have been developed and innovated in recent years Each of the methods has its own strong and weak points The choice of the methods depends on the type of the syllabus, the current teaching and learning conditions, the learner‟s level and needs For example, David Wilkins in his Notional Syllabuses (1976) has said: “ In drawing up a notional syllabus, instead of asking how speakers of the language express themselves or when and where they use the language, we ask what is it they communicate through language” In fact, most language teaching programs have been applied integrated methods rather than one single method

1.2 An overview of ESP

1.2.1 Definition of ESP

ESP has become an essential and innovative activity with the Teaching of English

as a Foreign today In ESP setting, there is a wide range of different definitions depending

on researchers‟ standpoints and approaches to the target issue or their different emphases

on the variety of elements that characterize ESP Robinson (1991:2) states: “ESP is normally goal direct and an ESP course is based on a need analysis, which specify as closely as possible what exactly is that students have to do through the medium of English”

Strevens (1980:1) defines ESP as “a particular case of the general category of special purpose language teaching”

When mentioning approaches to ESP, Hutchinson &Waters (1987:2) point out:

“ESP should properly be seen not as any particular language product but as an approach to language teaching which is directed by specific and apparent reason for learning”

And Richards and Platt (1985) indicate that the content of an ESP course are fixed

by the specific needs for a particular group of learners

In conclusion, most of definitions have one common point is that any ESP course must be based on the learner‟s needs In fact, the learner‟s needs and interests are different

so designing ESP has to meet the demands of learner and motivate their learning effectively

1.2.2 Classification of ESP

We usually hear many familiar terms such as EAP, EOP, EST and ESS in ESP Hutchinson & Waters (1987) divides ESP into three branches: English for Science and Technology (EST); English for Business and Economics (EBE) and English for Social Studies (ESS) But two main areas are EAP and EOP, which are English for Academic Purposes and English for Occupational Purposes Robinson (1991:3) divides ESP into EOP and EAP through the tree diagram that is described as follow:

- EOP : pre-experience, simultaneous, post-experience

- EAP(EEP): for study in a specific discipline (pre-study, in-study, posy-study) ,

as a school subject (independence, integrated)

According to this diagram, it is useful to divide the courses into the periods and purposes in detail in order to choose an appropriate course for suitable specificity

EOP is taught in a situation in which learners need to use English as part of their work or profession Instances of EOP students would be doctors in casualty or technicians servicing equipment They need English, in the first case, to talk and respond to patients and other staff, and, in the second, to read technical manuals

EAP is taught generally within educational institutions to students needing English

in their studies The language taught may be based in particular disciplines at higher levels

of education when the student is specializing (in-study) or intends to specialize (pre-study)

in a particular subject

There are many different ways of classifying ESP depending on each researcher‟s view In my own opinion, my syllabus will be classified as EOP, which is the most suitable for our learners‟ jobs

1.3 Speaking

1.3.1 What is speaking?

According to Ur (1996), of the four skills ( listening, speaking, reading and writing), speaking seems intuitively the most important: people who know a language are referred to as “speakers” of that language as if speaking included all other kinds of knowing: and many if not most foreign language learners are primarily interested in learning to speak Taking similar view to Ur, Bailey and Savage (1994:vii) say “ for many people, speaking is seen as the central skill because of the desire to communicate with others, often face-to-face and in real time” Therefore, classroom activities that develop learners‟ ability to express themselves through speech would therefore seem an important component of a language course Yet, it is difficult to design and administer such activities; more so, in many ways, than to do so for listening, reading or writing

1.3.2 Speaking skills

Speaking is one of man‟s most complex skills It is a skill which is unique to our species Each normal child starts acquiring it in infancy, clearly driven by a genetically given propensity for language The mature skill takes all of childhood to develop It requires extensive interaction between the child and its parents, peers, teachers and other

members of the language community There is, in fact, never a steady state The mature language user keeps expanding his lexicon as new words are needed or arise in the language There is also often a continuing growth of rhetorical and narrative abilities in the adult speaker

One of the basic problems in foreign-language teaching is to prepare learners to be able to use the language How this preparation is done, and how successful it is, depends very much on how we as teachers understand our aims For instance, to test whether learners can speak, it is necessary to get them to actually say something

1.3.3 Implication for teaching speaking

Davies and Pearse (200: 82) suggest some clear implication for teaching speaking:

- Try to create a relax atmosphere in your classes so that most learners are not frightened of speaking in front of the rest of the class And do as many speaking activities as possible in pairs and groups, so that the learners can speak English without the rest of the class listening

- Expose the learners as much as possible to naturally pronounced speech They will not learn to develop speaking skills in general, if they do not hear enough natural speech

- Accustom the learners to combining listening and speaking in real time, in natural interaction Perhaps the most important opportunity for this is in the general use of English in the classroom

Similarly, Penny Ur (1996) claims that to make a speaking course, in general, speaking activities, in particular, successful it is necessary for the teacher to

- Use group work: which increases the amount of learners talk going on in a limited period of time and lowers the inhibitions of learners who are unwilling

to speak in front of the full class

- Base the activities on easy language The level of language should be easily recalled and produced by the participants, so that they can speak fluently with the minimum of hesitation It is a good idea to teach or review essential vocabulary before the activities start

- Making a careful choice of topic and tasks is also needed to stimulate interest

In fact, the clearer the purpose of the discussion is the more motivated participants will be

- Give some instruction or training in discussion skills If the is based on group discussion then include instruction about participation when introducing it For example, tell learners to make sure that everyone in the group contributes to the discussion; a point a chair person to each group who will regulate participation

- Keep learners speaking the target language It is advisable to appoint one of the group as monitor, whose job it is to remind participants to use the target language, and report later to the teacher how well the group managed to keep

to it

The speaking course is designed for the technicians in Garment companies Therefore, it offers the teacher opportunities to fulfill students; immediate needs for English The content of the course is quite specific and will always

be determined by the students‟ needs and objectives The language in class is also governed by learners‟ needs This often means a high technical content, with frequent use of common business terms It also means a focus on styles of speaking, which are appropriate to the learners‟ working environment and the

tasks they have to perform in their jobs

CHAPTER II METHODOLOGY 2.1 Situation Analysis

2.1.1 The teaching and learning conditions

English courses are held in Garment companies, so they equipped their classroom with modern facilities, for example: PC, radio, projector…The number of learners is between 20- 30 It is really challenging for teachers to implement activities and students have good

chances to practice English skills in the classroom

2.1.2 The current syllabus

At our college, our syllabus of the textbook New headway elementary and intermediate We have not had the syllabus about ESP speaking course, especially about

pre-Garment Branch

2.1.3 The target learners

Most of our learners learned English at colleges or universities… They are at different ages, ranking from 22 to 40 This is really an advantage because they are young and active These characteristics may help them to absorb and digest new information better or to be able to face challenges In addition, adult learners prefer learning by problem-solving instead of repetition which children learners enjoy However, it is a fact that students‟ levels of English are not similar Many learners learned English a lot at their colleges or foreign language centers Some learners are very active in learning while some others find it difficult to catch up with their classmates In addition, all learners are fully aware that English is a compulsory subject and very necessary for their jobs Thus their motivation in studying English is gain further improvement in speaking English to support for their jobs The number of learners in each course is about 30, and is a very good condition for teachers and learners to do different activities in class

2.1.4 The teacher staff

Teacher population is generally seen to play a fundamental role in the success of a

new syllabus for their attitude abilities to adjust to new thinking are crucial Therefore, it‟s essential to consider the teacher‟s command of the target language, their training, background, teaching experience, as well as their attitude towards changes in the program

There are twelve teachers in our English group, aged between 24- 37 Three of them graduated from Hanoi Open University, the rests graduated from The College of

foreign languages, Vietnam National University Among them three hold M.A degree and one is studying for M.A degree at Hanoi University Most of these teachers are very enthusiastic and helpful to each other in teaching They are also eager to learn and apply new thing in their teaching Most of them have taken ESP teaching course Ten teachers have been responsible for an ESP course for Garment and fashion for 2-5 years

2.2 Methodology

2.2.1 The subjects

Sixty potential learners are sampled from the technical department at the different Garment companies such as Dap Cau, Hung yen, Hai nam…The researcher went to their office, gave them questionnaires, explained the aims of the research and asked them to fill those questionnaire The potential learners are 40 female and 20 male with the average age

at 29 Some have been learning English for at least 7 years at their high school and colleges, but some have just learned at foreign language centers And their English levels are not similar The second subject of the study is 10 English teachers (three of them has been teaching English for 13 years, two for 9 years and the rests for 4 years) The third was also given to 10 employers who have been working in offices, companies in order to investigate their attitude toward the real tasks for learners They may understand more deeply about the tasks and realize the importance of English in their current jobs

2.2.2 Document analysis

According to the requirements of General Director of Vietnam Textile and Garment Group ( QĐ/ VNT 201-2005), each garment technicians must have a certain English level

to work and communicate well with foreign partners in garment field

2.2.3 Instruments for collecting data

Three questionnaires and an interview are conducted to get the data

The first questionnaire for English teachers also has three sections designed to identify their suggestions on the objectives of the syllabus; the topics needed; the grammatical structures

The second questionnaire designed in Vietnamese and English for the learners is also divided into 3 sections

Section I finds out the expectations, opinions on the objectives of the learner- centered speaking course

Section II focuses on the topics needed for the syllabus

Section III concerns with the grammar; structures and the tasks for the syllabus

The third was semi-structure interview for the employers

2.2.4 Data collecting procedure

70 copies of the 2 questionnaires were delivered and all of them were returned with reasonable answers Analyzing the needs of learners and employers is the most important step to specify the aims, objectives and content of the syllabus