VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST – GRADUATE STUDIES NGUYỄN THỊ THẢO A PRELIMINARY EVALUATION OF THE ENGLISH COURSE FOR ACADEMIC PURPOSES AT THE INTERNATIONAL DEPARTMENT, THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY (ĐÁNH GIÁ SƠ BỘ KHÓA HỌC TIẾNG ANH PHỤC VỤ MỤC ĐÍCH HỌC THUẬT TẠI KHOA QUỐC TẾ, ĐẠI HỌC THÁI NGUYÊN) M. Minor Programme Thesis Field: English Language Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Hanoi, 2012 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Page PART A: INTRODUCTION…………. Rationale of the study…………. Objectives and significance of the study………….
Scope of the study…………. Methods of the study…………. Organization of the study………….……………………………………… 4 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW…………. English for Academic Purposes………….
Definition of EAP…………. The relationship between EGAP and ESAP…………. English for GBP and English for SBP…………. Definition of course evaluation………….
The importance of course evaluation…………. Common features of course evaluation…………. Definition of coursebook…………. The significance of coursebook evaluation.
Criteria of coursebook evaluation………….…………………………………………… 12 CHAPTER 2: METHODS OF THE STUDY…………. Background of the study………….1 The International Department and its teaching and learning conditions…. An overview of the course applied for the 1st year students of IDTNU…. Methods of the study………….
15 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Restating the research questions…………. Data collecting instruments…………. Questionnaire for students………….………………………………………… 18 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION…………………….
Findings of the study…………. The results of the questionnaire…………. Students‟ background of learning English…………. Students‟ assessment on time spent for each skill…………………….
Students‟ assessment on the teaching materials for each skill………. Students‟ assessment on the sub-skills that they were taught………. Students‟ self-assessment on the skills they have gained……………. The evaluation on teaching performance…………………………….
The results of the interviews…………. Answer to textbooks…………. Students‟ English proficiency…………. Discussions about the study results………….
Summary of the main findings and conclusion……………………………. Limitations and suggestions for further research…………………………… 39 REFERENCES…………. I v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com APPENDIX 1: Questionnaire………….………………………………………… VI vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS IDTNU: International Department, Thai Nguyen University MMU: Manchester Metropolitan University DMU: Demonfort Metropolitan University IB: International Business IBA: International Business and Administration U.K: United Kingdom EAP: English for academic purposes EGAP: English for general academic purposes ESAP: English for specific purposes ELT: English language teaching 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF TABLES AND FINGURES Page Figure 1: The variety of years that students have learnt English before 20 going to university Figure 2: The subjects that students had to study for the entrance exam 21 Figure 3: Students‟ assessment on time spent for each skill 22 Figure 4: Students‟ assessment on the applicability of the textbook into 23 business major Figure 5: Students‟ assessment on the textbooks‟ suitability with 24 students‟ level Table 1: Students‟ opinion about the sub-skills they were taught 25 Table 2: Students‟ self-assessment on the skills they have gained 26 Table 4: students‟ evaluation on teacher A‟s teaching performance 28 Table 5: Students evaluation on Mr. B‟s teaching performance 29 Table 6: Students' evaluation on Ms.
C‟s teaching performance 30 Table 7: Students' evaluation on Mr. D‟s teaching performance 31 Figure 6: Comparison of the students‟ satisfying about the English 31 teachers 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART A: INTRODUCTION This part is comprised of six sections including the rationale for the study, the objectives and significance of the study, the research questions, the scope of the study, the methods used in the study and the organization of the study. Rationale of the study Nowadays, in many countries whose mother tongue is not English, English is not a general subject but a language used to instruct other subjects. In recent years in Viet Nam, the development of education has required many universities to import curricula from other countries, whose official language used to teach those subjects is English.
This raises another challenge for learning and teaching English: how to teach English for Academic Purposes. The International Department, a new department under Thai Nguyen University, with the aim of applying imported advanced programs into the school, has implemented an advanced program collaborated with Manchester Metropolitan University. In this program, students are going to use English as a medium of listening to lectures in their major. Therefore, for the first year of studying, students are taught English in such a way that they can use it for their academic purposes in the later years.
In fact, the school year of 2011- 2012 is the first year the International Department has implemented the English course for academic purposes so the preliminary evaluation of the course is important for the course designers to get the feedback from students about the program. Objectives and significance of the study Firstly, the thesis is carried out to investigate the effectiveness and weakness of the English course for the purpose of preparing study skills in English for the first year students, International Department – Thai Nguyen University. Secondly, the aim of the study is to find out what aspects of language skills that students still need to learn so that they can use English as a medium of instruction in their major. Last 3 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com but not least important, some suggestions are given to improve the course of English for academic purposes at the International Department, Thai Nguyen University.
This study is done in a hope that it will help better the quality of teaching and learning English for academic purposes at IDTNU. Thus, it will help enhance students‟ English competence. Research questions In order to draw the conclusion, the following research questions are raised: 1. To what extent does the course satisfy students? 2.
What do the students still need to learn? 3. How can the course be improved? Hopefully, based on its findings, the International Department would bring about the improvements in the course. It would also help teachers have a clear view of what aspects of the program that cause difficulties to students and which skills/ activities they should add in their lessons. Finally, with regard to researchers, the information in the study would be a reference for other related researches.
Scope of the study The research limits its scope to the English course for general academic purposes for the first year students at IDTNU. The choice of participants is simply a matter of convenience as the researcher is working as a training managing staff for IDTNU. Methods of the study To achieve the aims, the qualitative and quantitative approach including survey questionnaires and interview is used to collect the data. The method used in this research is formative evaluation.
In common, the data for the study were obtained through the following instruments: 4 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com The questionnaires which were delivered to the first year students at IDTNU to discover the students‟ background of learning English, their self-assessment on the course books used during the course, what they were taught and what they gained from the course. The interviews were used to get the feedback from the lecturers of the course on the students‟ English proficiency, the course books used as well as the suitability of the workload on each English skill. Organization of the study The thesis consists of three main parts: Part A is the introduction, which presents an overview of the study with the rationale for the research, the aims and the research questions of the study. It also narrows the scope, presents the research method and outlines the content of the study.
Part B is the development, which includes three chapters as follows: * Chapter 1 is the literature review. This chapter presents all the related theoretical background that precedes and necessitates the information of the research. * Chapter 2 describes the research methods used in the study with some necessary components. * Chapter 3 is devoted to a detailed description of data analysis and thorough discussion of the findings of the study.
In this chapter some explanation and interpretations of the findings are explored. Part C is the conclusion which presents the study conclusions and teaching implications. Besides, it also offers the limitations and suggestions for further study. 5 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com PART B: DEVELOPMENT CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW In this chapter, all the related theoretical background that precedes and necessitates the information of the research is presented.
There are three main parts: English for Academic Purposes and Course Evaluation. The first part deals with definition of English for academic purposes, the relationship between English for general academic purposes and English for specific academic purposes and the relationship between English for general business purposes and English for specific business purposes. The second one refers to the definition of course evaluation, its importance, teaching evaluation and course book evaluation. English for Academic Purposes 1.1 Definition of EAP According to Flowerdew & Peacock (2001:p8; Jordan, 1997: p.1), English for Academic Purposes (EAP) is generally defined as teaching English with the aim of facilitating learners‟ study or research in that language.
The definition explains that EAP requires not only study-skills teaching but also all the general English skills. Hamp-Lyons (2002: p2) gives his opinion about EAP, which refers to language research and instruction that focuses on the specific communicative needs and practices of particular groups in academic contexts. This means learners have to practice to develop new kinds of literacy: communicative skills to participate in particular academic and cultural contexts. Scarcella, Robin (2003, p9) defines EAP as a variety or a register of English used in professional books and characterized by the specific linguistic features associated with academic disciplines.
In his opinion, Academic English tasks include reading abstracts, understanding the key ideas, research projects, expository essays. Academic English includes many diverse sub-registers associated with different disciplines such as science, economic, and mathematics (Johns, 1997). Compared with the definition in 6 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com the past, nowadays, literacy is understood differently. It involves mechanics such as decoding as well as higher-order thinking – conceptualizing, inferring, inventing, and testing.
Then, literacy includes not only the ability to read and write but also communication skills (August & Hakuta, 1997). English for Academic Purposes, often identified as a sub-category of English for Specific Purposes, is defined as a student‟s need for „quick and economical use of the English language to pursue a course of academic study‟ (Bernard Coffey, 1984, p. Therefore, Jordan agrees to divide EAP into two additional groups: „common core‟ or „English for General Academic Purposes‟ (EGAP) and „subject- specific‟ or „English for Specific Academic Purposes‟ (ESAP). We can easily find out from his opinion that studying English for General Academic Purposes focuses on reading, writing, speaking and listening skills while English for Specific Academic Purposes concentrates on vocabulary and skills specific to a subject of study.
In common, study skills are „key component‟ of EAP.2 The relationship between EGAP and ESAP English for academic purposes can be divided into 2 sub types: English for General Academic Purposes (EGAP) and English for Specific Academic (ESAP) as mentioned above. Dudley – Evans and St John distinguished EGAP and ESAP as follows: „EGAP refers to the teaching of the skills and language that are common to all disciplines; ESAP refers to the teaching of the features that distinguish one discipline from others‟ (Dudley – Evans & St John, 1998, p. According to Blue, 1993, English for General Academic Purposes integrates the skills in study activities, for example, reading a text consists of understanding the main ideas and guessing the author‟s point of view or scanning for specific information. Whereas, English for Specific Academic Purposes integrates EGAP skills in order to help students in their actual subject tasks.
In other words, ESAP is the instrument for students to study their actual lectures. Tonny Dudley – Evans and Maggie Jo St John (p.