VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* ĐÀO THỊ HOA EVALUATING AN ESP BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAM FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN CHEMISTRY IN A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI ĐÁNH GIÁ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH THEO MÔ HÌNH KẾT HỢP TRỰC TIẾP- TRỰC TUYẾN DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH HÓA HỌC TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở HÀ NỘI M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field: ELT Methodology Code: 8140231.01 HANOI – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES ********************* ĐÀO THỊ HOA EVALUATING AN ESP BLENDED LEARNING PROGRAM FOR SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS MAJORING IN CHEMISTRY IN A UNIVERSITY IN HANOI ĐÁNH GIÁ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH THEO MÔ HÌNH KẾT HỢP TRỰC TIẾP- TRỰC TUYẾN DÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ HAI CHUYÊN NGÀNH HÓA HỌC TẠI MỘT TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC Ở HÀ NỘI M.A MINOR PROGRAM THESIS Field: ELT Methodology Code: 8140231.01 Supervisor: Trần Thị Thu Hiền, Ph.D HANOI – 2019 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby declare that the minor thesis submitted today entitled: “Evaluating an ESP blended learning program for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi” is the result of my own work, except where reference is made in the text of the thesis. The work contained in this thesis has not been previously submitted for a higher degree in any other education institution. Dao Thi Hoa September, 2019 i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS During the period of completing the Master thesis, I have received the support of a great number of people. First and foremost, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Ms.
Tran Thi Thu Hien, Ph.D for her patient guidance, detailed suggestions, excellent support, great encouragement and constructive supervision during the research project. I also wish to express my great thanks to all the professors and lecturers at the University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, for their insightful lectures, their invaluable assistance, and guidance during learning the Master program. I am indebted to the university where I work, my colleagues, and my students who participated in this study. For ethical reasons, I cannot mention their names here, yet I wish to warmly thank them for their interest and support for my study.
Without their participation, this study would not have come into being. Finally, I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my family and my friends for their long-term support and encouragement from the beginning to the end of the research process. My parents, my husband, and my daughter have happily shared all the ups and downs of my research journey. I could not have sustained and completed this difficult journey without their support and unconditional love.
Dao Thi Hoa ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT The continual growth of technology enhances the development of English teaching and learning, especially ESP blended learning programs in higher education, which can improve the communicative environments for Vietnamese students. However, the effectiveness of this program is not clearly recognized. This paper aims at evaluating the effectiveness of an ESP blended learning program for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi, finding the difficulties which teachers and students have to encounter during teaching and learning this program. Based on which some recommendations were suggested to design a better learning and teaching program.
This paper is a survey research project identifying learner evaluation towards the effectiveness of an ESP blended learning program as well as teacher evaluation of the program through their learning and teaching experience. The author conducted a survey questionnaire at Chemistry department of a university in Hanoi with 55 student respondents. Also, the researcher interviewed 5 English teachers who are in charge of teaching English for these students. The results revealed that the students‟ perceptions and attitudes towards the effectiveness of blended learning program were positive in terms of the four domains in the questionnaire: (i) online learning parts, (ii) face-to-face lessons, (iii) online and face-to-face integration, and (iv) learners‟ outcomes.
However, regarding implementing ESP blended learning for the second-year students in the Chemistry department, some negations are openly acknowledged. In addition, possible suggestions are proposed for enhancing the effectiveness of such program. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. iii LIST OF FIGURES.
vii LIST OF TABLES. viii CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION. Rationale for the study. Aims and objectives of the study.
Methods of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study. Structure of the thesis.
3 Chapter 2- LITERATURE REVIEW. English for Specific Purposes (ESP). Definition of ESP. Characteristics of ESP.
Types of ESP. English for General Purposes (EGP) versus English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 8 2. Definition of blended learning. Benefits of blended learning.
Requirements of implementing blended learning. Definition of program evaluation. Blended learning evaluation. Purposes of program evaluation.
16 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Previous studies related to the thesis. Data collection instruments. Data collection procedure.
Data analysis procedure. Analysis of the survey questionnaire. Analysis of the interview. 30 CHAPTER 4- DATA ANALYSIS AND FINDINGS.
The effectiveness of the ESP blended learning program. Online learning parts. Students’ evaluation on online learning parts. Teachers’ evaluation on online learning parts.
Face-to-face lessons. Students’ evaluation on face-to-face lessons. Teachers’ evaluation on face-to-face lessons. The integration between online learning and face-to-face lessons.
Students’ evaluation on the integration between online learning and face- to-face lessons .37 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Teachers’ evaluation on the integration between online learning and face-to-face lessons. Students’ evaluation on their outcomes. Teachers’ evaluation on students’ outcomes.
Students and teachers’ difficulties encountered during the programs. Suggestions and implications. The teachers and students’ suggestions to improve the ESP blended learning program. Implications for a better ESP blended learning program.
Implications for students. Implications for teachers. Implications for university authorities. Limitations and suggestions for further studies.
Suggestions for further studies. I Appendix A: SURVEY QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS. I Appendix B: TEACHERS’ INTERVIEW QUESTIONS. V vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF FIGURES Figure 2.1: Four puzzle pieces of evaluation (Pombo and Moreira, 2011) .1: Students‟ evaluation of online learning parts .2: Students‟ evaluation on face-to-face lessons .3: Students‟ evaluation on the integration between online and face-to-face .4: Students‟ evaluation on their outcomes .5: Learners‟ expectation of the ESP blended learning course .42 vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES Table 2.1: ESP characteristics Dudley-Evans and St.2: Types of ESP, Dudley-Evans, T.7 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com CHAPTER 1- INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale for the study It is undeniable that Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) nowadays plays a crucial role in human being‟s life in general and education in particular. The increased integration of ICTs in teaching and learning has become more familiar with higher education in Vietnam and led to a deeper interest in enhanced interactions between students and their teachers, peers and learning materials. As a result, blended learning, defined as “the organic integration of thoughtfully selected and complementary face-to-face and online approaches and technologies.” (Garrison & Vaughan, 2008), has been becoming a popular method in higher education because it not only helps improve teaching methodologies but also changes students‟ ways of learning. However, the main issues here are to what extent blended learning is effective.
“Blended learning is typically more complicated and multifaceted than either fully online or face-to-face learning…. The application of the blended learning program enables students to learn a wide variety of knowledge and then apply them into inside English class activities. In particular, the combination of online learning and face-to-face class environment gives chances for teachers to provide students with rich language input and opportunities for students to learn online and focus on facilitating students‟ interactive and collaborative learning in face-to-face classes. For example, students learning online at home will have material for their face-to-face classes and then have more time to apply these materials into improving speaking.
Therefore, the combination of online and face- to-face learning creates opportunities for students to develop their English knowledge and skills as well. Blended learning program provides an ideal environment for language education, so it becomes more familiar with higher education in Vietnam. The university where the study is conducted is one of the first universities applying blended learning in 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com teaching English. The implementation of blended learning is expected to enable teachers to improve their teaching methodology to facilitate students‟ development of English ability for social and professional communication, as well as their lifelong learning skills.
To achieve these purposes, teachers teaching in blended learning courses are required to understand blended learning, take part in designing curriculums and material processes. Although the university has applied blended learning in teaching English there since 2015, there has not been any research into evaluate the effectiveness of this teaching program. It is necessary to discover the answer to this matter. Basing on the results, recommendations can be proposed to improve the quality of this program at the university.
A deep understanding of the effectiveness of blended learning environment will provide the opportunity to improve students‟ English as well as teachers‟ teaching methods in implementation of blended learning in English language teaching at the university. Aims and objectives of the study The study aims at evaluating the effectiveness of an ESP blended learning program for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a University in Hanoi. Its interrelated objectives are: - To investigate the effectiveness of the ESP blended learning program for second year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi from the students and teachers’ perspectives; - To find out difficulties encountered by teachers and students during their teaching and learning time in this ESP blended learning program. Research questions The study was carried out to obtain information for answering the following research questions: 1.
How effective is the ESP blended learning program for second-year students in Chemistry Department from the teachers and students’ perspectives? 2. What are difficulties encountered by teachers and students during their teaching and learning time in this ESP blended learning program? 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Methods of the study To serve its purpose, this study has been conducted as survey research using questionnaires and interviews to collect data. Fifty-five second-year students, who are either taking or have just completed the ESP blended learning course have participated in filling the questionnaire.
Five teachers teaching the ESP blended learning program have been interviewed. The data obtained from the questionnaire was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively to identify the common patterns of responses regarding the effectiveness of such program. The answers from the interviews were analyzed to identify the teachers‟ evaluation of the program and their suggestions for improving this program. Scope of the study The study is conducted to evaluate the effectiveness of ESP blended learning for second-year students majoring in Chemistry in a university in Hanoi from the perspectives of teachers and students experiencing this program.
All other studies aim at evaluating other programs for other types of students are out of the scope of the study. Significance of the study In theory, this study will contribute to blended learning program to some extent. The evaluation of the program will show its effectiveness and propose some possible suggestions to improve such program.