MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANNITIES NGUYEN PHUONG CHI ENGLISH FOR BANKING AND FINANCE AT HO CHI MINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND SUGGESTIONS FOR SYLLABUS IMPROVEMENTS A THESIS IN TESOL CODE NUMBER 5.02 SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF TESOL SUPERVISOR: CAO THI QUYNH LOAN, MA HOCHIMINH CITY -2003 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: ENGLISH FOR BANKING AND FINANCE AT THE HOCHIMINH CITY UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS: A CRITICAL REVIEW AND SUGGESTIONS FOR SYLLABUS IMPROVEMENTS in terms of the statement of Requirements for Theses in Master’s Programmes issued by the Higher Degree Committee. HoChiMinh City September 10, 2003 NGUYEN PHUONG CHI RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, NGUYEN PHUONG CHI, 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. HoChiMinh City September 10, 2003 Nguyen Phuong Chi.
ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my thesis supervisor, Ms Cao Thi Quynh Loan, for her providing thorough instructions, guidance and valuable comments in the completion of this thesis. I am extremely grateful to my former supervisor, Ms Nguyen Thi Thanh Ha, who has encouraged and given me the inspiration to do this thesis, and provided me with great ideas to finish the thesis. My special acknowledgement is respectfully extended to Mr Nguyen Huynh Dat, Head of the Department of English Linguistics and Literature, Ho Chi Minh City University of Social Sciences and Humanities, and staff members. I would also like to send my thanks to Ms Thai Thi Xuan Thuy, Head of the Foreign Languages Department of Ho Chi Minh City University of Economics, Mr Vo Dinh Phuoc and some of the staff members for their help and useful contribution.
Last, but not least, my warmest and most affectionate thanks are given to my parents, brother and friends, without their moral support and encouragement this thesis could not have been completed. iii ABSTRACT A good syllabus will help both teachers and students a lot in the process of teaching and learning. This thesis takes a critical look at the current syllabus for students of State Finance and Monetary Business at HoChiMinh City University of Economics so as to make it more effective in meeting the needs of students, teachers, the department as well as society. To do this, a study was carried out to develop recommendations to improve the current syllabus.
The method employed in the investigation included a survey of students’ and teachers’ opinions of the current syllabus, with questionnaires given to the students of State Finance and Monetary Business, interviews with the teachers in charge of the course, and class observation. Besides, test results were analysed. The study has revealed the strengths and weaknesses of the current syllabus. On this basis, the strengths were retained and the weaknesses were improved or replaced.
In addition, constraints in improving the syllabus were clarified so that a revised syllabus could be better. iv LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS 1. BA Bachelor of Arts 2. EGP English for General Purposes 3.
ESL English as a Second Language 4. ESP English for Specific Purposes 5. HCMC Ho Chi Minh City 6. MA Master of Arts 7.
MBA Master of Business Administration 8. TESOL Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages 9. UE The University of Economics v LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS FIGURES 3.1 The relationship of a curriculum to the syllabuses which draw from it .2 The means analysis model by Holiday .1 Assessment of the class observation .2 Percentage of students’ range of marks .3 Percentage of students got the average marks and above in sections 1and 2 in semesters 1 and 2 .1 Results of practice tests. 54 - 55 vi TABLE OF CONTENTS Certificate of originality.
i Retention and use of the thesis. iv List of Abbreviations. v List of illustrations. vi Table of contents.
vii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. AIMS OF THE STUDY. STRUCTURE OF THE THESIS.2 CHAPTER 2: BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY. AIMS AND REQUIREMENTS OF TEACHING ENGLISH TO THE STUDENTS OF STATE FINANCE AND MONETARY BUSINESS AT THE UE.
PRESENT SITUATION OF LEARNING AND TEACHING OF ENGLISH TO THE STUDENTS OF STATE FINANCE AND MONETARY BUSINESS AT THE UE. Current syllabus: English for Finance and Banking .10 vii CHAPTER 3: LITERATURE REVIEW. CURRICULUM AND SYLLABUS. TYPES OF LANGUAGE SYLLABUSES.
CONTENT-BASED AND TASK-BASED SYLLABUSES. Reasons for choosing these types. Position of content-based and task-based syllabuses. Definitions of task.
Task, activity and exercise. Content-based and task-based syllabuses for the students of State Finance and Monetary Business at the UE. SYLLABUS DESIGN PROCESS. Goal and objective setting.
Selecting and developing materials. Evaluation and testing.27 CHAPTER 4: METHODOLOGY AND ANALYSES OF THE STUDY. Test result evaluation. Data collection procedure.
ANALYSES OF THE STUDY. Analysis of the students’ opinions of the current syllabus. Analysis of the teachers’ opinions of the current syllabus. Analysis of the class observation.
Analysis of the test results .47 CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS. FINDINGS OF THE STUDY. Strengths of the current syllabus. Weaknesses of the current syllabus.2 RECOMMENDATIONS FOR IMPROVING THE SYLLABUS.
Text-based tasks. Constraints in improving the syllabus for the students of State Finance and Business Monetary. Applicability of the revised syllabus. A revised syllabus in hard copy.
137 ix CHAPTER 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Problem identification Since the implementation of the doi moi policy in 1986, Vietnam has joined the ASEAN and welcomed foreign investors. Since then, foreign companies have rushed into the Vietnamese market and established their businesses in Vietnam. Most of these companies have created business activities that require the use of English. In order to meet this need, all of the universities in Vietnam are teaching English as a compulsory subject to students in the hope that after graduation, they can use it as a means to further their careers.
The HCM City University of Economics (UE) is, of course, not an exception. In all departments, such as Business Administration, Accounting - Auditing, Foreign Trade and Tourism, etc. all students have to study English. For different reasons, the UE has used textbooks written by foreign specialists for many years, however, it can also be easily recognized that these textbooks have not been completely suitable for the students.
Over the last few years, the problem has been considered by the Principal and the Department of Foreign Languages at the UE who concluded that it was important to replace or improve the current syllabuses used in all departments. This issue has become even more critical due to current events, such as: - The United States - Vietnam Trade Agreement was approved by the Congresses of the two nations. - Vietnam pending entry into the WTO. In addition, the United Nations and some international economic organizations have insisted that Vietnam change the banking system.
Because of these reasons, it is important that the current syllabus for banking and finance used at the UE be critically reviewed, and improved or replaced.2 Aims of the study The study was undertaken in order to develop recommendations to improve the current syllabus. In other words, strengths and weaknesses of the current English syllabus for students of State Finance and Monetary Business at the UE will be identified so that the strengths will be retained and the weaknesses can be overcome.3 Rationale The fact that a syllabus can be used successfully in one department or an institution does not mean that it can achieve similar success in another. The current syllabus for students of State Finance and Monetary Business at the UE was designed three years ago. Since then, there have been many changes in students’ background and expectations of what is needed to better prepare them for future work.
“An understanding of the syllabus design will help teachers develop a more coherent and global view of the teaching and learning processes that occur in the classroom” (Richards, 1998, 1). In summary, the purpose of this study is to critically examine the current syllabus and to suggest changes so as to make it more effective in meeting the needs of the students, the department and society.4 Structure of the thesis The thesis is organized into six chapters. Chapter 1 identifies the problems, states the reasons why this study was undertaken and provides an overview of the thesis. Chapter 2 provides the background for the study.
It includes an overview of teaching English to the students of State Finance and Monetary Business at the UE in view of aims and requirements. Chapter 3 is the literature review. It starts with a discussion of curriculum and syllabus. Types of language syllabuses are also briefly mentioned, with the focus on content-based and task-based ones.
Then, major issues of the syllabus design process and the factors that affect it are dealt with, together with Holliday’s means analysis. 2 Chapter 4 presents the methodology employed in the study. In this chapter, specific research questions, the subjects, the instruments and the research procedures are described. After that, it analyses and discusses students’ and teachers’ opinions of the current syllabus as well as test results.
Results of class observation are also given. Chapter 5 discusses the findings of the study and makes recommendations for an appropriate methodology and a revised syllabus. Chapter 6 gives conclusions, limitation of the thesis and suggestions for further investigation. 3 CHAPTER 2 BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY Chapter 1 provides background information necessary to understand the issues presented in the thesis.
Aims and requirements as well as the present situation of learning and teaching of English to the students of State Finance and Monetary Business at the UE will be dealt with in this chapter.1 Aims and requirements of teaching English to the students of State Finance and Monetary Business at the UE The aims of teaching ESP at the UE are based on the directives set by the Ministry of Education, that is, to prepare the students for employment and to provide them with a background for self-study in future work so that they can meet the ever-changing requirements of the society. Particularly, in the case of students of State Finance and Monetary Business, the aims and requirements have been to train them, the future graduates, to use English in their future work and to read specialized literature in their field. In other words, it is to provide students with the specialized knowledge and terms used in banking and finance and training in reading skills.2 Present situation of learning and teaching of English to the students of State Finance and Monetary Business at the UE 2.1 Learners At the UE, the courses in English are provided in two stages. In stage I (the first two years of study), students study General Business English.
They are supposed to achieve four skills at a pre-intermediate level after three semesters (270 periods) so that they can continue the study in stage II, where they do ESP (120 periods). Students who come from big cities, such as Ho Chi Minh city, Nha Trang, etc. have a much higher proficiency in English than do students who come from central coast and southern provinces (70%). Those students have difficulties in learning English, because in these regions the conditions of learning English are 4 poor.
To these students, English is a difficult subject. In spite of this, students of different levels have to study in the same classes, in the first and the second stage.