An evaluation of the syllabus of english for hopitality industry at nha trang pedagogical college

Major findings could be summed up as follows: 1 It is logical for the syllabus to cover English for different hotel sections; 2 The focus of listening and speaking skills in the syllabus

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY - HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES

  

ĐÀO THỊ TRANG

AN EVALUATION OF THE SYLLABUS OF ENGLISH FOR HOSPITALITY INDUSTRY

AT NHA TRANG PEDAGOGICAL COLLEGE

A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT

OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF

MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL)

Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỊ KIỀU THU, Ph.D

Ho Chi Minh City, 2010

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY

I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled:

An Evaluation of the Syllabus of English for Hospitality Industry at Nha Trang Pedagogical College

In terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2010

Đào Thị Trang

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS

I hereby state that I, Dao Thi Trang, being the candidate for the degree of Master of TESOL, accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library

In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan and reproduction of theses

Ho Chi Minh City, April 2010

Đào Thị Trang

I am also very grateful to Mr Pham Duc Su, Ph.D., who gave me priceless advice and assistance in the process of doing the research

I wish to thank Ms Huynh Thi Hang, Manager of KBIZ Enterprise Consultative Limited Company, for her materials as well as guidance in designing questions for the hotel staff

In addition, I would like to thank the English Resource Center Department of English Linguistics and Literature at University of Social Sciences and Humanities - Ho Chi Minh City for kindly providing me with references needed for the thesis

-I would also like to express my gratitude to the Directors and staff of Sunrise Hotel, VinPearl Hotel, Nha Trang - Lodge Hotel, Green Hotel, Hai Au Hotel, and Vien Dong Hotel for their enthusiastic participation in the survey and their permission for the information to be used

I am also thankful to the teachers of English Section and the students of English for Tourism - Course 32 at Nha Trang Pedagogical College, who were willing to give their own opinions and make useful suggestions for the current syllabus

Last, but not least, I warmly thank my family for their encouragement and help

ABSTRACT

English for Tourism is a new branch at Nha Trang Pedagogical College

and “English for Hospitality Industry” is one of the subjects included in the

curriculum of English for Tourism at the institution As a new subject, its syllabus was first applied in the previous school-year (2008-2009) With an aim

to improve the quality of the course, this study focuses on an evaluation of the syllabus to find out:

1 whether the syllabus is suitable for students’ needs

2 whether the syllabus provides students with knowledge that meets the employers’ requirements

The main method of this research was qualitative method supported by statistical figures

On the basis of the data collected from a survey based on questionnaires and interviews at Nha Trang Pedagogical College and six 3-5 star hotels in Nha Trang, findings about the suitability of the syllabus for the students’ needs as well as the local needs were drawn out Major findings could be summed up as follows: 1) It is logical for the syllabus to cover English for different hotel sections; 2) The focus of listening and speaking skills in the syllabus satisfies both students’ and target needs; 3) The teacher’s ways of organizing class activities including group work, pair work and plays (role play) are considered

to be quite suitable for the course; 4) Most of the topics selected in the syllabus are necessary for students’ future jobs at the hotel; 5) The main course book

“International Hotel English” is supported

However, a number of aspects of the syllabus were found to be necessarily adjusted and the following recommendations were made: 1) The course should be taught in Semester 5, before students are sent to hotels for apprentice; 2) The syllabus content should be adjusted with the addition of the

topic “Using the telephone” and the omission of the topics “Careers” and

4) It is advisable that authentic materials, brochures, pictures of local hotels, etc should be used; 5) Suitable follow-up activities in the main course book should be selected and relevant activities from other course books supplemented; and 6) Cooperation with hotel experts to design the hotel situations in which employees often have trouble in dealing with guests is quite necessary

TABLE OF CONTENTS

CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY i

RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS ii

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS iii

ABSTRACT iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS vi

LIST OF TABLES ix

CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1

1.1 Background to the study 1

1.1.1 Development of tourism industry in Vietnam 1

1.1.2 Development of Khanh Hoa tourism 3

1.1.3 The role of English in tourism industry 4

1.2 Problem identification 4

1.3 Purpose of the study 5

1.4 Description of the syllabus 5

1.5 Limitations of the study 7

1.6 Organization of the study 8

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10

2.1 Overview of ESP 10

2.1.1 Definition of ESP 10

2.1.2 Types of ESP 11

2.1.2.1 English as a restricted language 11

2.1.2.2 English for academic and occupational purposes 11

2.1.2.3 English with specific topics 12

2.1.3 The differences between English for specific purposes (ESP) and general English (GE) 12

2.2 Overview of syllabus 13

2.2.1 Distinction between syllabus and curriculum 13

2.2.2 Reasons for having a syllabus 15

2.2.3 Types of syllabuses 16

2.2.3.1 Structural Syllabus (or Formal Syllabus) 16

2.2.3.2 Situational Syllabus 17

2.2.3.3 Topical Syllabus 17

2.2.3.4 Functional Syllabus 18

2.2.3.5 Notional Syllabus 19

2.2.3.6 Skills-Based Syllabus 20

2.2.3.7 Task-Based Syllabus 20

2.2.3.8 A Content-Based Syllabus 21

2.2.4 Choosing and integrating syllabuses 21

2.3 Materials 22

2.3.1 Definition 22

2.3.2 The role of materials in language instruction 23

2.3.3 The relationship between syllabus and materials 23

2.4 Syllabus design 24

2.4.1 The concept of syllabus design 24

2.4.2 Stages in language syllabus design 26

2.4.2.1 Needs analysis 26

2.4.2.2 Content specification 27

2.4.2.3 Syllabus organization 28

2.5 Summary 30

CHAPTER 3: METHODOLOGY 31

3.1 Research questions 31

3.2 Research design 31

3.2.1 Subjects of the study 32

3.2.1.1 Selection of subjects 32

3.2.1.2 Characteristics of subjects 33

3.2.2 Instruments 35

3.2.2.1 Questionnaires 35

3.2.2.2 Interviews 38

3.2.3 Procedures of data collection 40

3.3 Summary 40

CHAPTER 4: DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS 42

4.1 Data analysis 42

4.1.1 Responses to the questionnaires 42

4.1.1.1 Students’ responses 42

4.1.1.2 Hotel employees’ responses 59

4.1.2 Responses to interview questions 68

4.1.2.1 Teachers’ responses 68

4.1.2.2 Hotel representatives’ responses 72

4.2 Findings 74

4.3 Remarkable similar and different opinions about the current syllabus 80

4.4 Summary 83

CHAPTER 5: RECOMMENDATIONS AND CONCLUSION 84

5.1 Recommendations for the current syllabus 84

5.2 Conclusion 91

BIBLIOGRAPHY 95

APPENDIX 1 102

APPENDIX 2 105

APPENDIX 3 109

APPENDIX 4 113

APPENDIX 5 115

APPENDIX 6 117

APPENDIX 7 119

APPENDIX 8 121

APPENDIX 9 123

APPENDIX 10 125

APPENDIX 11 126

APPENDIX 12 127

APPENDIX 13 133

LIST OF TABLES

Page

Table 1.1 Content of the current syllabus 7 Table 3.1 Information of the consulted hotels and their representatives 34 Table 4.1 Appropriate semester for teaching English for

Hospitality Industry 43 Table 4.2 Time budget 44 Table 4.3 The focus of the syllabus 45

Table 4.4 The preferred focus of English for Hospitality Industry 46 Table 4.5 The focus on language skills 46 Table 4.6 Evaluation of the focus on language skills 47

Table 4.7 Time allotment for practice in class 47

Table 4.8 Class activities 48 Table 4.9 Suggested topics to be omitted 49 Table 4.10 Suggested topics to be added 50

Table 4.11 Suggested topic arrangement 50

Table 4.12 Use of audio-visual aids 51 Table 4.13 General evaluation of the course book

Table 4.14 Evaluation of the sections in the course book 52 Table 4.15 Evaluation of activities in the course book 54 Table 4.16 Evaluation of vocabulary in the course book 55 Table 4.17 Evaluation of grammatical patterns in the course book 56 Table 4.18 1 Difficulties during apprentice time 58 Table 4.19 2 Difficulties during apprentice time 58 Table 4.20 The number of questionnaires delivered and received 60 Table 4.21 The number of hotel employees involved in the survey 60 Table 4.22 Staff experience 61 Table 4.23 Staff English training 62 Table 4.24 Staff previous English study 62 Table 4.25 1 Frequency of English use at work 63

Table 4.27 Staff English skills at work 64 Table 4.28 Required general knowledge of the hotel 65 Table 4.29 Purposes of using English at work 66 Table 4.30 1 English training at work 67 Table 4.31 2 English training at work 67 Table 4.32 Self-improvement after recruited 68 Table 5.1 The topics of the current syllabus and their arrangement 87 Table 5.2 The topics and their order suggested for the syllabus 88

Nowadays, the term “tourism” is not strange to people in the world any more Tourism can be easily understood as travel for recreational or leisure purposes Over the last few decades, there has been an expansion of tourist activity across national borders As a matter of fact, tourism has already become a global activity With the developments in technology and improvements in transport infrastructure, many types of tourism have been made much cheaper and thus more affordable, most notably the development of the package tour In addition, increasing personal incomes and longer holidays are more favorable for foreign travel

It is a fact that tourists can achieve a lot of benefits from their holidays such as feeling fresh and full of energy to re-engage into their daily work, either too monotonous or under pressure, widening their knowledge, experiencing new cultures, enjoying fine architecture and works of art, tasting different cuisines, especially promoting understanding among people and helping to integrate people from different cultures

1.1 Background to the study

1.1.1 Development of tourism industry in Vietnam

Tourism is identified as the world’s largest industry, a major source of revenue, foreign exchange and employment, and a catalyst for the economic development and growth of many countries For example, tourism is considered

to be vital for such countries as Egypt, Greece and Thailand, and many island nations like the Bahamas, Fiji and Seychelles Not having been found on the list of top ten most visited countries by international travelers, Vietnam, however, is frequently viewed as a friendly, safe and attractive destination, which is very advantageous for Vietnam’s tourism development

In reality, the tourism industry of Vietnam has achieved a lot of success and has gradually affirmed its important role in the development of the nation’s economy For instance, the period 1990 - 2005, that is from the time Vietnam applied the open door policy, saw a rapid increase of eleven fold in the number

of international visitors, from 250,000 in 1990 to 3.4 million in 2005 During this period of time, the Vietnamese tourism industry earned more than VND 30,000 billion, exceeding the plan (ND, April 2006) More surprisingly, only

in 2008 were there over 4.25 million foreign arrivals as tourists, with a growth

of 0.6 percent as compared to 2007, according to the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism’s statistics in April 2010

Nevertheless, the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism (April 2010) states that due to the global financial crisis and A/H1N1 epidemic in

2009, the number of international visitors to Vietnam fell sharply to 3,77 million foreign arrivals, a 10.9 percent drop from the previous year Thanks to strong support from the Government and relevant agencies at all levels, Vietnam’s tourism sector has gradually overcome its difficulties The increase

in the number of foreign tourists in early 2010 – 1.35 million arrivals, a 36.2 percent increase over the same period of year 2009, is a good sign for the tourism sector (the Vietnam National Administration of Tourism, April 2010) According to the strategic objectives for the Vietnamese tourism development

in the period 2001 – 2010, tourism will develop into a spearhead economic sector with the average annual GDP growth rate of 11 -11.5% (Prime Minister Phan Van Khai, July 2002) Furthermore, Vietnam is striving to become a tourist center of regional caliber, and also one of the world’s ten most popular

destinations by 2016, as forecasted by the international specialists of the World Tourism Organization

1.1.2 Development of Khanh Hoa tourism

Located in the South Central Vietnam, the province of Khanh Hoa has been increasingly well-known to visitors, especially since Nha Trang Bay was recognized as one of 29 most beautiful ones in the world in July, 2003

On the basis of exploiting the advantages of natural conditions, ecology, and cultural, historical vestiges, Khanh Hoa has focused on developing tourism into a spearhead economic branch of the province, which is also the objective

of Vietnam

Integrated with the overall development of the country, Khanh Hoa tourism industry has made great contributions to the province’s economic development In fact, tourism has been acknowledged the fastest growing industry in Khanh Hoa According to the Khanh Hoa People’s Committee’s report on tourism in October 2008, the number of visitors to Nha Trang - Khanh Hoa has been growing quickly, from 900,289 in 2005 to 1,363,512 in

2007 including 282,272 international travelers, for instance

The success that Khanh Hoa tourism has obtained for the past few years has laid the firm foundation for the pace of development in the coming time Since Khanh Hoa plays the role of a regional and national tourist center, tourism development is still affirmed by the Khanh Hoa People’s Committee as one of the key economic programs of the province “By the year 2010 the tourism industry will be targeting 1-1.3 million visitors, 500,000 of whom will

be international tourists” (Bao Chan - LD) It also strives to maintain the average tourist growth rate of 16% per year and the average annual growth of 10% in the number of tourist arrivals, as stated in the material of a workshop hold in Nha Trang on December 5, 2008

In the near future, Khanh Hoa aims at serving visitors of high standard Therefore, at present, Khanh Hoa continues to invest in the expansion of tourist

and entertainment resorts and concentrate on the construction of four/five-star tourist areas so as to compete with the other big marine tourist centers of neighboring countries

Simultaneously, in order to promote the integration with the tendency of the regional and the world-wide tourism development, Khanh Hoa has defined the objective of strongly developing international tourism, regarding it as a driving force for the development of domestic tourism and services

1.1.3 The role of English in tourism industry

Together with the elements of occupational skills and knowledge or good service, good foreign language skills, especially English skills, are now indispensable for tourism laborers, owing to the large number of international visitors of high standard expected to Khanh Hoa in the coming time and the country’s integration into WTO and the world economy as well

According to the Head of Management and Training Department of Six senses Hideaway - Ninh Van Tourist Resort, English itself is the bridge between employees and visitors Without English skills, it is extremely difficult for employees to satisfy their visitors since they do not know what their visitors demand for Furthermore, speaking English well, employees will have more opportunities to learn about other cultures and take part in courses lectured by foreign experts In addition, employees will feel more confident in themselves

so as to solve clients’ problems more easily and quickly One more important thing is that employees can introduce their own locality to visitors, which makes local tourism better-known on the national and global market

1.2 Problem identification

Among the institutions, one university and four colleges in Khanh Hoa, that are currently responsible for training English for tourism, Nha Trang Pedagogical College was permitted by the Ministry of Education and Training

to open the branch of English for tourism in 2005 in order to meet the extremely urgent demand of both quantity and quality of tourism laborers in

Khanh Hoa Nevertheless, for a long time, since 1978, the main role of Nha Trang College has been to train teachers of English for the provincial junior high schools, so the opening of this branch has resulted in new and heavy responsibilities for the teachers of English Section In particular, within a short period of time, the Foreign Language Department together with the English Section of the college had to develop the curriculum of English for Tourism and the teachers who were assigned the task of teaching ESP had to design the syllabuses for this new branch, including the syllabus of English for the Hotel, the syllabus of English for the Restaurant and the syllabus of English for Tourist Guides

1.3 Purpose of the study

In the scope of this study, the author will only have a look at the syllabus

of English for the Hotel (a unit of hospitality industry) for the reason that this syllabus has been applied for the first time at the college; therefore, students’ evaluation is very important after the first application of the syllabus Together with the students’ and the teachers’ opinions, the information and viewpoints gathered from the hotel staff, hopefully, will help make essential adjustments for the syllabus

This study aims to find out:

1 whether the current syllabus of English for Hospitality Industry at Nha Trang Pedagogical College is suitable for students’ needs

2 whether the current syllabus provides students with knowledge that meets the employers’ requirements

3 what improvements can be made to the syllabus to help it satisfy the students’ as well as the target needs

1.4 Description of the syllabus

1 Time allocation: Semester 6 (last semester)

2 Time budget: 45 periods (3 credits; 4 periods per week)

3 Learners’ Level: Intermediate and Upper-intermediate

4 Prerequisites:

- Learners’ English level is Intermediate

- Learners are able to communicate in English at basic level

- Learners have some social knowledge and ability to use the Internet

5 Objective:

The course focuses on training learners the two necessary skills of hotel job: listening and speaking, and prepares sample contexts through which learners are able to use English communicatively at hotel

6 Materials:

- Main course book: International Hotel English (Donald Adamson,

1989, Prentice Hall International (UK) Ltd)

- Supplementary course book: Five Star English (Rod Revell & Chris

Stott, 1996, Oxford University Press)

7 Content:

The selection and arrangement of the content of the syllabus is presented

in the table below (The language reference of each unit is presented in Appendix 1)

1 1 Hotel types and hotel activities

8 Hotel records, reservations

6 9 Hotel records, Check-in and after

11 Hotel services, General services

12 Hotel services, Directions and general enquiries

7 13 Hotel services, The hotel as a product

Table 1.1: Content of the Current Syllabus

1.5 Limitations of the study

As for the students, the subject of English for Hospitality Industry is

taught for only English - majored seniors (third-year students) at Nha Trang

Pedagogical College However, the number of these students is small – only 25,

which is considered a disadvantage in getting the research subjects’ responses

to questionnaires

Another disadvantage of the survey is the limited number of teachers involving in teaching this subject Besides the only one teacher who designed the current syllabus and was in charge of the class of those twenty-five students, the Head of English Section, and the teacher who once designed a syllabus of English for Hospitality Industry (English for the Hotel) for Course

2007 - 2008, which is different from the existing syllabus, were consulted

1.6 Organization of the study

This study consists of five chapters:

Chapter One: Introduction

Chapter Two: Literature Review

Chapter Three: Methodology

Chapter Four: Data Analysis and Findings

Chapter Five: Recommendations and Conclusion

Chapter One presents the introduction of the study In this chapter, the background to the study, the identification of the problem, the purpose of the study, the description of the syllabus of English for Hospitality Industry (English for the Hotel) at Nha Trang Pedagogical College, and the limitations

of the study are included

Chapter Two covers an overview of English for Specific Purposes, the issues related to syllabus such as the distinction between syllabus and

curriculum, the reasons for having a syllabus and the types of syllabuses,

followed by the role of materials and the relationship between materials and syllabus The final part of this chapter is the presentation of the syllabus design including the concept of syllabus design and the stages of designing a syllabus, which are employed as the criteria of the syllabus evaluation

Chapter Three focuses on the methodology of the research Apart from the research questions, this chapter presents the research design, which includes

the method of the study, the sample selection and description of the research subjects, the instruments used for collecting data, and finally the procedures of data collection

Chapter Four presents the analysis of the data – responses to the questionnaires and interview questions collected from the research subjects, the findings drawn out from the data analysis and remarkable similar and different opinions about the existing syllabus These findings will help to answer the research questions and to make reasonable recommendations for the syllabus

Chapter Five, the last chapter of the thesis, is concerned with the necessary recommendations for the syllabus based on the findings presented in Chapter 4, and the recommendations will be followed by the conclusion of the study

CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW

This chapter covers an overview of English for Specific Purposes (ESP), the discussion of some issues related to syllabus, and to materials In addition, the stages in language syllabus design, on which the evaluation of the existing syllabus was based, will be presented for the reason that there has not been any material that mentions the evaluation of a syllabus but only the material concerning the evaluation of a curriculum has been found

2.1 Overview of ESP

2.1.1 Definition of ESP

ESP teaching involves teaching English with particular attention to a certain area, for example, medicine, business, or tourism

ESP has been defined in several ways so far

First, it is regarded as “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 Waters, 1987: 19, cited in Nghiem Thi Bich Diep, 2008: 1) In other words, as stated by Nghiem Thi Bich Diep (2008: 2), ESP is

“an approach to language teaching which is directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning.”

Besides, Strevens (1988: 84) provides a definition which covers more detailed characteristics of an ESP course Strevens claims that ESP is a particular case of the general category of specific-purpose language teaching and that the same principles apply no matter which language is being learnt and taught

At a recent conference on ESP held in Japan, different interpretations of the meaning of ESP could be seen On the one hand, ESP was simply described

as the teaching of English for any purpose that could be specified On the other hand, ESP was described more precisely as the teaching of English used in

academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational or professional purposes

ESP has become more and more important because the spread of globalization has resulted in the increasing use of English as the language of international communication Besides, more and more people are using English

in a growing number of occupational contexts, thus there has been an increase

in vocational training and learning throughout the world Moreover, students start learning and master general English at a younger age, so they move on to ESP at an earlier age (British Council: 1)

2.1.2 Types of ESP

David Carter (1983) identifies three types of ESP:

 English as a restricted language

 English for academic and occupational purposes

 English with specific topics

2.1.2.1 English as a restricted language

The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples

of English as a restricted language According to Mackay and Mountford (1978), knowing a restricted language would not allow the speaker to communicate effectively in novel situations or in contexts outside the vocational environment

2.1.2.2 English for academic and occupational purposes

In the “Tree of ELT” (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), ESP is broken down into three branches: English for Science and Technology (EST), English for Business and Economics (EBE) and English for Social Studies (ESS) Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP)

Distinction between EAP and EOP is that while the former serves an educational purpose (e.g studying literature, science, business, economics,

etc.), the latter serves a vocational or professional purpose (e.g medical technician, stewardess, hotel receptionist, etc.)

2.1.2.3 English with specific topics

This type is concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for instance, scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences or working in foreign institutions It is an integral component of ESP courses which focus on situational language This situational language has been determined based on the interpretation of results from needs analysis of authentic language used in target workplace settings (Carter 1983, cited in Kristen Gatehouse: 4)

2.1.3 The differences between English for specific purposes (ESP) and general English (GE)

According to UsingEnglish.com, ESP and GE are different in some ways

as follows:

The most important difference lies in the learners and their purposes for learning English ESP students are usually adults who already have some acquaintance with English or a basic knowledge of general English language competence and are learning English in order to communicate a set of professional skills and to perform particular job-related functions Therefore, an ESP program is built on an assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required

ESL and GE also differ in the aim of instruction As a general rule, in GE all four language skills listening, reading, speaking, and writing are stressed equally but in ESP a needs analysis will determine the language skills that are most needed by the students, and the syllabus will be designed accordingly For example, an ESP program might promote the development of speaking skills for students who are studying English to become tourist guides

Another difference is that ESP concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures It covers subjects varying

from accounting or computer science to tourism and business management The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the students’ real world (or wishes) but it is integrated into a subject matter area important to the learners In other words, English should be presented in authentic contexts to make the learners acquainted with the particular ways in which the language is used in functions that they will need to perform in their fields of speciality or jobs

The fact that students are able to apply what they learn in their English classes to their main field of study, whether it be accounting, business management or tourism, is highly motivating In fact, once students are able to use the vocabulary and structures that they learn in a meaningful context, they will be extremely motivated and their knowledge will be reinforced as well

However, though the motivation and goals of the students studying ESP and GE are slightly different, Netiksiene (2006: 82) says that various ideas and teaching methods can be transferred from the classes of GE to the classes of ESP and vice versa, giving learners the opportunity to acquire better skills in a foreign language

2.2 Overview of syllabus

2.2.1 Distinction between syllabus and curriculum

Up to now, the definition of syllabus has been found in many different sources of materials In order to fully understand what a syllabus is, it is necessary to distinguish a syllabus from a curriculum

According to White (1988: 4), the distinction between syllabus and

curriculum is sometimes confusing since these two terms are used differently

on either side of the Atlantic White states that in a distinction that is commonly

drawn in Britain, syllabus refers to the content or subject matter of an individual subject, whereas curriculum refers to the totality of content to be

taught and aims to be realized within one school or educational system In the

USA, nevertheless, curriculum tends to be synonymous with syllabus in the

British sense

Curriculum and syllabus can be distinguished in another way: “A curriculum deals with abstract, general goals while a syllabus, or the instructional plans, guide teachers and learners in everyday concerns” (Dubin and Olshtain, 1986: 4, cited in Nguyen Hong Duc, 1999: 11)

Allen (1984) also considers curriculum as a very general concept which involves consideration of philosophical, social and administrative factors which contribute to the planning of an educational program In this broad sense, syllabus refers to a subpart of a curriculum which is concerned with the specification of what units will be taught

More specifically, a curriculum is “an educational program (the ends), the content, teaching procedures and learning experience which will be necessary to achieve this purpose (the means), and some means for assessing whether or not the educational ends have been achieved” (Richards J.C et al.,

1992, cited in Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, 2002: 3), while a syllabus “provides a focus for what should be studied, along with a rationale for how that content should be selected and ordered” (McKay, 1978, cited in Nguyen Thi Minh Tam, 2002: 3)

In summary, though expressed differently, the term syllabus can be

understood in the same way as follows:

First, as McKay (1978) says, “A syllabus provides a focus for what should be studied, along which a rationale for how that content should be selected and ordered.”

Second, in Wilkins’ (1981) words, 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.”

Finally, a syllabus can be seen as “a plan of what is to be achieved through our teaching and our students’ learning” (Breen, 1984) while its function is “to specify what is to be taught and in what order” (Prabhu, 1984)

2.2.2 Reasons for having a syllabus

Hutchinson & Waters (1986: 83) list the following acknowledged and

hidden reasons for having a syllabus:

a) Language is a complex entity It cannot be learnt in one go We have to have some way of breaking down the complex into manageable units The syllabus,

in defining the constituent parts of language knowledge, thus provides a practical basis for the division of assessment, textbooks and learning time b) In addition to its practical benefits, a syllabus also gives moral support to the teacher and learner, in that it makes the language learning task appear manageable

c) A syllabus, particularly an ESP syllabus, also has a cosmetic role Sponsors and students will want some reassurance that their investment of money and /

or time will be worthwhile If nothing else, the syllabus shows that some thought and planning has gone into the development of a course This aspect is, obviously, of particular importance when there are commercial sponsors involved

d) Returning to our analogy of learning as a journey, the syllabus can be seen as

a statement of projected routes, so that teacher and learner not only have an idea of where they are going, but how they might get there

e) A syllabus is an implicit statement of views on the nature of language and learning A syllabus will normally be expressed in terms of what is taken to be the most important aspect of language learning

f) A syllabus provides a set of criteria for materials selection and / or writing It defines the kind of texts to look for or produce, the items to focus on in exercises, etc This is probably one of the commonest uses for a syllabus, but it can be one of the most damaging to the course design, if wrongly used

g) Uniformity is a necessary condition of any institutionalized activity, such as education It is deemed to be important that standards within a system are as equal as possible A syllabus is one way in which standardization is achieved (or at least attempted)

h) In that teaching is intended to lead a learner to a particular state of knowledge, there need to be criteria against which success or failure in reaching that state will be assessed A syllabus, therefore, provides a visible basis for testing

To sum up, the list of roles that a syllabus plays as mentioned above can prove that a syllabus is an important document in the teaching/learning process Indeed, its importance probably stems from its multi-functional purpose Hutchinson & Waters (1986: 83) also remind that these different roles need crucially to be aware of so that it can be used most appropriately

2.2.3 Types of syllabuses

So far, several distinct types of language teaching syllabuses have

existed, and these different types may be applied in various teaching situations Below are some of the syllabuses and their characteristics that have been mentioned by Brown (1995) and taken from the internet as well:

2.2.3.1 Structural Syllabus (or Formal Syllabus)

This type of syllabus represented the model of foreign language teaching

at its beginning According to McKay (1981), structural syllabuses focus on

grammatical structures or patterns The structures that are selected for such a syllabus are usually regarded as important in the language These structural patterns are organized according to such criteria as structural complexity, difficulty, regularity, utility and frequency Particularly, the sequencing of structures is typically based on the idea of starting with easy structures and gradually progressing to more difficult ones In some cases the sequencing starts with the more frequently occurring structures and gradually moves to the less frequently occurring ones Mckay (1981) also says that in most cases, such

sequencing – whether by degree of difficulty or frequency – has typically been fairly intuitive

Since this type of syllabus is organized along grammatical lines, gives primacy to language form and specifies structural patterns as the basic units of learning, it makes ample use of highly controlled, tightly structured and sequenced pattern practice drills, according to Kaur (1990: 13)

2.2.3.2 Situational Syllabus

Reilly (1988: 2) confirms that situational syllabuses are based on the idea

that language is found in different contexts, or situations “A situation usually involves several participants who are engaged in some activity in a specific setting.” In other words, the main purpose of a situational language teaching syllabus is to teach the language that occurs in the situations

As a result, the designer of a situational syllabus attempts to predict those situations in which the learner will find himself, and uses these situations, for

example, at a party, at the beach, in a tourist shop, at the airport, in a taxi, at a

hotel, in a restaurant, and so on, as a basis for selecting and presenting

language content

According to McKay, the sequencing usually moves from situation to situation based, perhaps, on chronology or the relative likelihood that students will encounter the situations in question For example, based on a mixture of chronology and likelihood, the situations listed above, McKay thinks, would

probably make more sense in the following sequence: at the airport, in a taxi,

at a hotel, in a restaurant, at the beach, in a tourist shop, and at a party

2.2.3.3 Topical Syllabus

Brown (1995: 9) says that topical syllabuses are similar to situational syllabuses Nevertheless, they are organized by topics or themes, rather than situations Typically, the topics are selected by the textbook author on the basis

of their sense of how the topics or themes are important to the lives of the students for whom the text is designed The topics are often sequenced on the

basis of their perceived importance or on the basis of the relative difficulty of the reading passages involved

Below are some of the main headings from the table of contents of Smith and Mare (1990) that can be used to illustrate a topical syllabus:

Unit I Trends in Living

1 A Cultural Difference: Being on Time

2 Working Hard or Hardly Working

3 Changing Life-Styles and New Eating Habits Unit II Issues in Society

4 Loneliness

5 Can Stress Make You Sick?

6 Care of the Elderly: A Family Matter

2.2.3.4 Functional Syllabus

From Reilly’s viewpoint (1988: 2), “The content of the language teaching is a collection of the functions that are performed when language is

used.” Some examples of functions include informing, agreeing, apologizing,

requesting, introducing someone, greeting people, saying goodbye

According to Brown (1995: 10), authors select functions on the basis of their perceived usefulness to the students and then sequence them on the basis

of some idea of chronology, frequency, or hierarchy of usefulness of the functions

The following headings from the table of contents of Jones and Baeyer (1983) are the illustration for a typical functional syllabus:

1 Talking about yourself, starting a conversation, making a date

2 Asking for information: question techniques, answering techniques, getting more information

3 Getting people to do things: requesting, attracting attention, agreeing and refusing

4 Talking about past events: remembering, describing experiences,

about are included in the syllabus

According to Van Ek & Alexander (1980), notional syllabuses are organized around abstract conceptual categories called general notions These

general notions include such concepts as distance, duration, quantity, quality,

location, size, age, color and so on From Brown’s viewpoint, this type of

materials organization is related to functional organization and on occasion serves as a general set of categories within which functions form subcategories Brown (1995: 10) also says that the author’s selection of general notions is based on their perceived utility, and then sequences them according to chronology, frequency, or the utility of the notions involved

Besides, Kaur (1990: 13) confirms that both notional and functional syllabuses stress on communicative properties of language where the central concern is the teaching of meaning and the communicative use of patterns They emphasize what speakers communicate through language and derive its content from an analysis of learners’ needs to express certain meanings

However, Brown (1995: 11) notes that the phrases notional syllabuses and functional syllabuses are used separately to represent two distinct, though

related, types of syllabuses: the former organized around general notions and the latter organized around language functions

2.2.3.6 Skills-Based Syllabus

“Skills are things that people must be able to do to be competent in a language, relatively independently of the situation or setting in which the language use can occur” (Reilly, 1988: 2)

According to Reilly (1988: 2), the main purpose of skill-based instruction

is to learn the specific language skill In addition, it aims to develop more general competence in the language, learning only incidentally any information that may be available while applying the language skills

Therefore, Brown (1995: 11) states that an author who uses a skills-based syllabus organizes materials around the language or academic skills which they think the students will most need in order to use and continue to learn the

language For instance, a reading course might include such skills as skimming

a reading for the general idea, scanning a reading for specific information, guessing vocabulary from context, using prefixes, suffixes, and roots, finding main ideas, and the like Brown adds that the selection of skills is based on the

author’s perception of their usefulness, and their sequencing is usually based on some sense of the chronology, frequency, or relative usefulness of the skills

2.2.3.7 Task-Based Syllabus

“This syllabus type specifies the tasks, activities, and problems engaged

in the classroom which will be carried out in the real world “ (Jureckov, 1998: 2)

According to Brown (1995: 11-12), authors who favor task-based syllabuses organize materials around different types of tasks that the students

might be required to perform in the language Such tasks might include reading

job ads, making appointments, writing a resume, filling out a job application, being interviewed, solving a problem, and so forth An author’s selection of the

tasks to be included in a task-based syllabus is typically based on their perceived usefulness to the students

In addition, Nunan (2001: 1) says that task-based syllabuses represent a particular realization of communicative language teaching Consequently, instead of beginning the design process with lists of grammatical, functional-notional, and other items, the designer conducts a needs analysis which supplies

a list of the target tasks that the targeted learners will need to carry out in the

“real-world” outside the classroom

Nunan (2001: 5) also recommends that having specified target and pedagogical tasks, the syllabus designer analyze these tasks in order to identify the knowledge and skills that the learner will need to have in order to carry out the tasks The next step is to sequence and integrate the tasks with enabling exercises designed to develop the necessary knowledge and skills Exercises and tasks can be distinguished like this: exercises will have purely language related outcomes, whereas tasks will have non-language related outcomes, as well as language related ones

2.2.3.8 A Content-Based Syllabus

“The main purpose of instruction is to teach some content or information using the language that the students are also learning The students are simultaneously language students and students of whatever content is being taught The subject matter is primary, and language learning occurs incidentally

to the content learning The content teaching is not organized around the language teaching, but vice-versa An example of content-based language teaching is a science class taught in the language the students need or want to learn, possibly with linguistic adjustment to make the science more comprehensible” (Reilly, 1988: 3)

2.2.4 Choosing and integrating syllabuses

Although the different types of language teaching syllabuses discussed above are treated as if each type occur “purely”, in practice, it is rare for one type of syllabus to be used exclusively in actual teaching settings, as mentioned

by Reilly (1988: 2)

In other words, these types of syllabuses rarely occur independently of each other but two or more of them may be mixed together into what appears to

be a different type of syllabus, according to Brown (1995: 12) In other cases, some of these syllabus types are “combined in more or less integrated ways, with one type as the organizing basis around which the others are arranged and related” (Reilly, 1988: 3) For instance, “the distinction between skill-based and task-based syllabuses may be minimal” (Reilly, 1988: 2) or functional and notional syllabuses are combined into one type called functional - notional syllabus where “communicative skills rather than language are focused on” (Jureckov, 1998: 1)

In addition, if a syllabus is framed in only one aspect (structures, functions, content or whatever), it will probably miss the opportunity to develop the unacknowledged elements effectively

In short, the choice of a syllabus is a major decision in language teaching, and it should be made as consciously and with as much information as possible However, in discussing syllabus choice, it is not important which type

to choose but which types, and how to relate them to each other As Swan (1985b) says, “The real issue is not which syllabus to put first: it is how to integrate the syllabuses (functional, notional, situational, topical, structural, skills-based, etc.) into a sensible teaching program.”

2.3 Materials

2.3.1 Definition

Materials can be defined broadly enough “to encompass lesson plans, books, packets of visual aids, games, or any types of activities that go on in the language classroom” Brown (1995:139)

A definition that shares Brown’s viewpoint is also found from the article written by Kenji Kitao and S Kathleen Kitao (1997: 1) “Materials include textbooks, video and audio tapes, and visual aids.”

According to Tomlinson (1999: 2), most people associate the term

“language-learning materials’ with course books However, he confirms that the term can be used to refer to anything which is utilized by teachers or learners to facilitate the learning of a language or to increase the learners’ knowledge and/or experience of the language Therefore, materials can be

“cassettes, videos, CD-Roms, dictionaries, grammar books, readers, workbooks

or photocopied exercises, newspapers, food packages, photographs, advertisements, live talks by invited native speakers, tasks written on cards, articles from the Internet, …” (Tomlinson, 1999: 2)

2.3.2 The role of materials in language instruction

“Materials should teach students to learn, that they should be resource books for ideas and activities for instruction/learning, and they should give teachers rationales for what they do” (Allwright, 1990, cited in Kenji Kitao &

S Kathleen Kitao, 1997: 1) From his point of view, “textbooks are too inflexible to be used directly as instructional material.” Allwright also emphasizes that materials control learning and teaching whereas O’Neill (1990) argues that they help learning and teaching Therefore, O’Neill (1990) states that materials may be suitable for students’ needs, even if they are not designed specifically for them, that textbooks are efficient in terms of time and money, and that textbooks can and should allow for adaptation and improvisation

2.3.3 The relationship between syllabus and materials

From Nunan’s standpoint (1988), “… materials, in fact, are an essential

element within the curriculum, and do more than simply lubricate the wheels of learning.”

According to Cheng (2004), “language education programs in many parts

of the world are designed following a syllabus-driven approach, that is, the syllabus determines what kind of materials will be adopted and in what ways they will be exploited for the classroom teaching In certain educational

contexts, the syllabus even determines how materials should be designed in the first place.”

2.4 Syllabus design

2.4.1 The concept of syllabus design

Kaur (1990: 1) says that recently, there have been a growing number of

individuals who require languages for occupational and vocational purposes and for general educational purposes as well and that this has necessarily led to more attention on syllabus design in order to provide suitable teaching programs

In order to make practical decisions about syllabus design, Reilly argues that we must consider all the possible factors that might affect the teachability

of a particular syllabus By starting with an examination of each syllabus type, choosing and integrating the different types of syllabuses according to local needs, we may find a principled and practical solution to the problem of appropriateness and effectiveness in syllabus design

According to Webb (1976), syllabus design is understood as the organization of the selected contents into an ordered and practical sequence for teaching purposes This standpoint about syllabus design is also shared by Munby (1984) who says, “Syllabus design is seen as a matter of specifying the content that needs to be taught and then organizing it into a teaching syllabus of appropriate learning units.”

Below are Webb’s criteria for syllabus design:

 progress from known to unknown matter

 appropriate size of teaching units

 a proper variety of activity

 teachability

 creating a sense of purpose for the student

Gracia (1976) expands on this and provides more comprehensive critera for designing a language syllabus He says “particulars concerning the social

forces, the prejudices, the habits and the motives of the student population, the relation of student characteristics to what are considered universal concepts in language learning processes, contemporary insights into the nature of the language, and how it should be taught to non-native speakers and for what realistic purposes, must guide curricular decisions.”

According to Maley (1984), syllabus design encompasses the whole process of designing a language program He says “the needs analysis which produces an order unit of items to be taught is organically related to a methodology consistent with the syllabus, a set of techniques consistent with the methodology, and evaluation procedure consistent with the whole.”

Another thing to consider in designing syllabuses is the sense of reality and balance In particular, there should be time and balance reserved for both presenting and practicing linguistically and socially appropriate language relevant to the topics and situations our learners need to function in real life Language objectives resulting from learners’ needs should be included in the syllabus and closely associated with authentic activities/tasks demonstrating and practicing the language Otherwise, we will face the danger that we cram the syllabus with too much “language”, leaving very little or no time for students to practice it

Thus, as Jureckov mentions, realistically a designed ESP syllabus should show balance in its content quality and quantity Particularly, there should be balance between knowledge input communicated by the teacher textbook on the one side, and the activities, tasks, and problems internalizing this input on the other side More importantly this balance should be realistically set in an adequate time frame Otherwise, learners will have no chance to be involved in class and then their passivity or non involvement will undoubtedly spoil their desired outcomes

2.4.2 Stages in language syllabus design

From the above explanations on syllabus design, it can be concluded that syllabus design involves a logical sequence of three main stages, namely: needs analysis, content specification and syllabus organization

As Widdowson (1981) comments, “learner needs can be interpreted in two ways On the one hand, it can refer to what learners need to do with the language once they have learned it This definition of needs is goal-oriented and related to terminal behavior, the end of learning On the other hand, learner needs can refer to what learners tend to do in order to actually acquire the language This definition of needs is process-oriented and related to traditional behavior, the means of learning.”

However, Hawkey (1984) thinks that Widdowson’s comment suggests objectives rather than needs Moreover, Corder (1973) says that the content and structure of a syllabus is related to the objectives of the learner and society and these must be specified in terms of what he wants or must be able to do in terms

of social behavior and linguistic performance This is known as his terminal behavior Yet, Ingram (1982) maintains that a clear specification of objectives provides a means of ensuring coherence of language activities in responding to learner needs

Hawkey also suggests that research learner needs should be taken into account when specifying objectives In addition, Van Ek (1976) says that

language learning objectives must suit learners’ needs and that they should specify these components:

 the situation in which the foreign language will be used, including the topics to be dealt with

 the language activities in which the learner will engage

 the language functions which the learner will fulfill

 what the learner will be able to do with respect to each topic

 the general and specific notions which the learner will be able to handle

 the language forms which the learner will be able to use

 the degree of skill with which the learner will be able to perform

As far as the term needs analysis is concerned, it plays the role of

enabling us to discriminate between various learner types and to produce syllabus inventories suitable for their needs Specifically, a needs analysis is usually regarded as being most beneficial for an ESP course

After a lot of experimentation, criticism and re-evaluation, the concept of needs analysis has been expanded Trim (1981) says that needs analysis includes the identification of the communication requirements, personal needs, motivation, relevant characteristics, resources of the learner, and even investigating those of his partners for learning such as teachers, employers, administrators, family, and so on

2.4.2.2 Content specification

From Kaur’s point of view (1990: 7), most content of a language syllabus

is taken from inventories or lists which may be word frequency lists, inventories of functions or lists of specified topics According to Kaur, content can also be specified through the checklists which deal with communicative functions, discourse skills, and study skills

Shaw (1976) considers the selection of content to be mainly concerned with how much we can teach or how much can be learnt by the learners in question and which items should be included

Shaw recommends a criterion for content selection based on the “relative usefulness” or “relative difficulty” of the content matter He argues that students’ point of entry level and the duration of the course will indicate how much content matter should be included and how difficult it should be

On the basis of this criterion, Shaw suggests the following general procedure for selection:

 determine learners’ previous knowledge

 decide amount of content in general terms

 list items in rough order of specific frequency

 group for relative difficulty

 check that both functional and notional categories are present

 check coverage of grammatical items

2.4.2.3 Syllabus organization

The objective of organizing a syllabus should be to promote learning, not just to provide a description of the language Consequently, the content matter should be organized in such a way so as to facilitate teaching and learning At the same time, the unit of organization should suit the particular purpose of learning

This study has discovered from an article written by Kaur (1990: 9-11) lots of viewpoints on the organization of a syllabus:

First, a syllabus may be structured based on gradually moving from the more general to the more particular, a statement of a general rule to one of particular rules or exceptions which incorporate the deductive process Yet, the material can be organized so that the direction is from the particular to the general which is the inductive process

According to Pit Corder (1973), an ideal syllabus is one in which the sequencing of items derives from and presupposes the learning of some previous items

From Allen’s views (1984), there are three basic approaches which can

be employed to sequence and organize content:

 the traditional, structural-analytic approach in which the highest priority is given to formal grammatical criteria

 the functional-analytical approach which defines objectives in terms

of categories of communicative language use

 a non-analytic, experiential, or natural growth approach which aims

to immerse learners in real-life communication without any artificial pre-selection or arrangement of items

Another viewpoint is that a syllabus sequenced on a particular view of learning may start with subject matter which is more familiar to the learner It may also represent a particular view of the conditions offered by the specific classroom situation The sequence for the subject matter may have to consider whether it is easy to teach or it is more urgent

Wilkins feels that staging and sequencing should be carried out based on the criteria of simplicity, regularity, frequency and contrastive difficulty

According to Yalden, more simple language should be taught before the more complex in order to facilitate learning However, judgments of simplicity have to be based on intuition The criterion of regularity requires that the most productive linguistic structures should be taught before those of low productivity The criterion of frequency involves learning the forms that are rarely used later It is also suggested that the early stages of learning should be devoted to language forms which present the fewest contrastive difficulties

Johnson (1982) claims that the organization of content matter depends on what is meant to be achieved As Wilkin suggests, a needs analysis should be used to establish semantic priority so that the sequencing of items will depend

on what is considered more useful