VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES -----***----- NGUYỄN THỊ THANH BẰNG AN EVALUATION OF TEACHING ESP READING STRATEGIES FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING THIRD- YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (ĐÁNH GIÁ CÁC KỸ THUẬT GIẢNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 3 KHOA ĐIỆN Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014.0111 HA NOI – 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST - GRADUATE STUDIES -----***----- NGUYỄN THỊ THANH BẰNG AN EVALUATION OF TEACHING ESP READING STRATEGIES FOR ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING THIRD- YEAR STUDENTS AT HANOI UNIVERSITY OF INDUSTRY (ĐÁNH GIÁ CÁC KỸ THUẬT GIẢNG DẠY KỸ NĂNG ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 3 KHOA ĐIỆN Ở TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC CÔNG NGHIỆP HÀ NỘI) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 6014. Nguyen Phuong Nga HA NOI - 2015 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby certify that the thesis entitled “An evaluation of teaching ESP reading strategies for Electrical Engineering third-year students at Hanoi University of Industry” is the result of my own study in the fulfillment of the requirement for the Degree of Master of Arts at Faculty of Post-Graduate Studies, University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi and that it has not been previously submitted to this University or to any other institutions in application for admission to a degree, diploma or other qualifications.
Signature Nguyễn Thị Thanh Bằng Date: August, 2015 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I owe a great many thanks to so many people who have supported me all the way throughout my study to this final achievement. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my academic supervisor Ms. Nguyen Phuong Nga, Associate Professor, Doctor of Philosophy for her wholehearted guidance, valuable suggestions and academic advice during the course of writing this thesis, without which this work would hardly have been accomplished. I also wish to acknowledge all the staff of the Department of Post-Graduate Studies for giving me assistance and the lecturers who conducted the Master course for me with valuable knowledge.
I would like to extend my deep appreciation to my colleagues and Electrical Engineering third-year students at Hanoi University of Industry who have encouraged me and helped me with the research data. Last but not least, I am deeply indebted to my beloved parents, my husband, two my children, my siblings, and my post-graduate friends for their love, sacrifice, encouragement and support. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT Hanoi University of Industry (hereafter HaUI) is known as a multidisciplinary school which has contributed significantly to the training of the technical labor force for the development of the Vietnamese industry. Hence, along with general English-training courses, English for Specific Purposes (hereafter ESP) courses that has attracted much attention from students at this university.
For ESP-training context at HaUI, though ESP reading strategies have long been implemented and applied in its programs, nevertheless, up to now, there is no in-depth study to assess the effectiveness of the ESP reading strategies yet. Therefore, this study is carried out to evaluate the teaching ESP reading strategie that is being applied for Electrical Engineering third-year students at Hanoi University of Industry to offer recommendations for the purpose of improving the teaching ESP reading strategies in a more efficient way. The participants selected for the study included 95 Electrical Engineering third-year students and 4 ESP lecturers at HaUI. The results from the survey questionnaires for students and lecturers investigate ESP reading strategies currently employed by the English teachers and find out appropriate teaching strategies to contribute more highly teaching quality of lecturers in ESP reading lessons at HaUI.
Recommendations and suggestions for further researches are given in order to enhance more effectiveness in teaching ESP reading strategies. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages DECLARATION. iii TABLE OF CONTENTS. iv LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES.
vi PART A: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the study. Aims and objectives of the study. Scope of the study.
Significance of the study. Design of the study. 4 Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW. Definition of reading.
Reading Comprehension Process. Reading Strategies in English for Specific Purposes. Factors in Teaching ESP Reading Skill. Strategies for Teaching ESP Reading in Each Stage.
Evaluation of Teaching Reading Strategies. Previous Studies in the Same Field. Context of the study. Data collection procedures.
Data analysis procedures. 20 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com Chapter 3: RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. Lecturers‟ teaching ESP reading strategies. Lecturers‟ activities in pre-reading stage.
Lecturers‟ activities in while-reading stage. Lecturers‟ activities in post-reading stage. Students‟ perception of the benefits. Benefits from pre-reading stage activities.
Benefits from while-reading stage activities. Benefits from post-reading stage activities. Suggestions for enhancement of students‟ benefits. Lecturers‟ difficulties in teaching ESP reading texts.
Students‟ expectations and lecturers‟ suggestions. Comparison between survey results and evaluation criteria. Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study.
I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FIGURES Tables Table 3.1: Students‟ evaluation of lecturers‟ activities in pre-reading stage .2: Lecturers‟ self-evaluation of their activities in pre-reading stage .3: Students‟ evaluation of lecturers‟ activities in while-reading stage .4: Lecturers‟ self-evaluation of their activities in while-reading stage .5: Students‟ evaluation of lecturers‟ activities in post-reading stage .6: Lecturers‟ self-evaluation of their activities in post-reading stage .7: Students‟ evaluation of benefits from pre-reading stage activities .8: Students‟ evaluation of benefits from while-reading stage activities .9: Students‟ evaluation of benefits from post-reading stage activities .10: Lecturers‟ difficulties in teaching ESP reading texts .1: Students‟ evaluation of lecturers‟ activity organization in pre- reading stage .2: Lecturers‟ self-evaluation of their activity organization in pre- reading stage .3: Students‟ evaluation of lecturers‟ activity organization in while- reading stage .4: Lecturers‟ self-evaluation of their activity organization in while - reading stage .5: Students‟ evaluation of lecturers‟ activity organization in post- reading stage .6: Lecturers‟ self-evaluation of their activity organization in post - reading stage. 36 vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION This part introduces briefly about the study including rationale, aims, scope, significance of the study, research methodology as well as design of the thesis. Rationale of the study It is not an exaggeration to say that English is one of the most popular languages in this era of globalization and international exchange. English has become an extremely useful tool for most countries to access the world of modern technology and update latest achievements in many fields of life.
In Vietnam, since 1971, English teaching and learning have attracted a great deal of attention. Hence, the demand of learning English has increased rapidly. In recent years, English has proved its important role as the most popular foreign language that is being taught in all educational levels cover countries in the worldwide. It is a compulsory subject, which is not only for tertiary institutions, but also for that from primary to high schools in Vietnam.
Hanoi University of Industry (hereafter HaUI) has always been proud of being a multidisciplinary training school with great contributions to the technological developments as well as industrialization and modernization process. Therefore, along with General English-training course, English for Specific Purposes (hereafter ESP) course such as English for Business, English for Electrical Engineering, etc., that has been received very much attention from students in this university. How to teach and learn ESP effectively, however, is not simple. For many students, “reading is by far the most important of the four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or foreign language” (Carrel, 1981:1), however, reading comprehension is still considered as one of the least interesting ones for both lecturers and students.
Though many lecturers of English for Electrical Engineering also try in their best ways in order to make ESP reading lessons more attractive to their students, it seems to be all their efforts that do not capture the desired results. The question of how to deal with English for Electrical Engineering reading more effectively at my university has always been haunted in my mind. Although 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ESP reading strategies have long been implemented and applied in its programs for ESP-training context at HaUI, up to now, there is no in-depth study to assess the effectiveness of the ESP reading strategies yet. Therefore, the researcher have a desire to perform “An evaluation of teaching ESP reading strategies for Electrical Engineering third-year students at Hanoi University of Industry” which aims to offer recommendations to improve the teaching ESP reading strategies in a more efficient way.
Aims and objectives of the study The study aims to evaluate the teaching ESP reading strategies that is applied for Electrical Engineering third-year students so as to offer recommendations with purpose to enhance the lecturers‟ quality of teaching ESP reading at HaUI. The specific objectives of this study are to identify the strategies employed by lecturers in teaching ESP reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students and benefits that the students gain from these strategies. Scope of the study Although the ESP course is designed for all the third-year students at HaUI with eight different majors, it would be impossible for the researcher to get them involved in the study due to obstacles of time, duration and expense. Instead, the sample of the study consists of the third-year students at Faculty of Electrical Engineering only.
Besides, each ESP reading lesson often covers reading and writing skills and translation techniques. Nevertheless, the scope of this study aims to evaluate lecturers‟ strategies in teaching ESP reading skill, it does not cover all aspects of writing skill and translation techniques. The participants of the study are the Electrical Engineering students at HaUI who have already finished the ESP course in the second term of the third-year. Significance of the study This paper wishes to offer a picture of ESP reading strategies employed by lecturers for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI.
The findings of the study are expected to identify the most appropriate strategies in order to enhance students‟ interests in ESP reading lessons. Accordingly, suggestions can be made to 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com improve the third-year students‟ reading skill. Research methodology In order to achieve the research aims and objectives, the study is to find out answers to the following research questions: 1. What strategies do the lecturers currently employ in teaching ESP reading for Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI? 2.
How beneficial are the lecturers’ teaching ESP reading strategies to Electrical Engineering third-year students at HaUI? To answers the two research questions, the study is conducted by combining both qualitative and quantitative method. The researcher used survey questionnaires for ESP lecturers and Electrical Engineering third-year students. The detail of the methodology applied in the study is discussed in Chapter 2. Design of the study The study consists of three main parts as follow: Part A, Introduction, presents a brief introduction of the rationale for the study, the aims and objectives, scope, significance, research method as well as design of the study.
Part B, Development, includes the following chapters: Chapter 1, Literature review, deals with the theoretical background of the study and results from the previous studies for the issues relevant to the field investigated. Chapter 2, Methodology, describes the context and the research methodology of the study.