Vietnam National University, Hanoi University of languages and international studies Faculty of Post - Graduate Studies ---***--- NguyÔn ThÞ Hµ Quyªn TEACHERS’ AND THE FIRST YEAR BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION STUDENTS’ evaluaTIONS OF THE MERITS AND DEMERITS OF THE ebp MATERIAL ‘MARKET LEADER’ IN HAIPHONG UNIVERSITY (Nh÷ng ®¸nh gi¸ cña gi¸o viªn vµ sinh viªn n¨m thø nhÊt khoa Qu¶n trÞ kinh doanh tr-êng §¹i häc H¶i Phßng vÒ gi¸o tr×nh kinh tÕ 'Market Leader') MA. Minor Thesis Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor : NguyÔn minh Hµ, M.A HANOI - 2010 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY OF THE THESIS TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ABSTRACT LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES AND CHARTS LIST OF ABBREVIATION Part A: INTRODUCTION 1. Aims of the study. Significance of the study.
Scope of the study. Methods of the study. Design of the study. 3 Part B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.
An overview of English for Business Purpose (EBP). English for Specific Purpose (ESP). English for Business Purposes (EBP). Materials in language teaching and learning.
Definition and roles of Teaching Materials. Types of Materials. Reasons of Materials Evaluation. Definition of Materials Evaluation.
Kinds of materials evaluation. Sources of the data. Models for Materials Evaluation. 11 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.
Criteria for material evaluation. The research design. The research methods. The setting and the participants.
18 Chapter 3: DATA ANALYSIS AND DISCUSSION. The Requirements of the Course. The Course Objectives. The Course Content.
The Material Description. The Survey Results. The Suitability of the Material in terms of Objectives of the Course. The Suitability of the Material in terms of Content Requirement.
The suitability of the Material in terms of Course Objectives. The suitability of the Material in terms of Content Requirements. The suitability of the Material in terms of Methodology. 39 CHAPTER 4: SOME SUGGESTIONS FOR THE MATERIAL ADAPTATION .47 APPENDIX 1: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS APPENDIX 2: QUESTIONNAIRE FOR STUDENTS APPENDIX 3: WRITING PRACTICE OF MEMOS, EMAILS AND FAXES LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LIST OF ABBREVIATION ESP: English for Specific Purposes EBP: English for Business Purposes ELT: English Language Teaching BA: Business Administration HPU: Haiphong University LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 1 PART A: INTRODUCTION 1.
Rationale At the same time as English became the key to the international currencies of technology and commerce, it is married up naturally with the development of English courses for specific groups of learners called ESP (English for Specific Purpose). Basing on the guiding principle of ESP: „Tell me what you need English for and I will tell you the English that you need‟ (Hutchinson, T & Waters, A 1987:8), it is very necessary and important for BA students (Business Administration) in Haiphong University to gain good knowledge of Business English, besides General English. In order to improve the learners‟ motivation and thereby make learning better and faster, any ESP course needs to select its own teaching materials that satisfy the learners‟ wishes, needs, interests and demands. Among the varieties of published textbooks, „Market Leader Elementary‟ has been the first time in use as the official textbook for the first year Business Administration students in Haiphong University.
There were not any study to investigate the appropriateness and inappropriateness of „Market leader Elementary‟ to the certain teaching – learning context in Haiphong University. Hence, this led the writer to choose the study titled: “Teachers‟ and the 1st year Business Administration Students‟ evaluations of the merits and demerits of the EBP Material „Market Leader‟ in Haiphong University. Aims of the study The writer‟s concern in this study includes: - Investigate the currently used EBP material „Market Leader‟ in terms of objectives, contents and methodology from the perception of both Teachers‟ and the 1st year Business Administration Students in Haiphong University. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 2 - Give some suggestions to make more advantages and fewer disadvantages of the application of „Market Leader‟ for both Teachers and the 1 st year Business Administration Students in Haiphong University.
Significance of the study Many pre-researchers found materials evaluation a source of interest that a great number of writings on this branch have been written. Hopefully, this study will be beneficial to BA teachers‟ teaching method adjustment to attract and suit students‟ interest and demand. Therefore, it will help to enhance the students‟ EBP learning efficiency. Moreover, it is also hoped that the thesis will be of contributions towards ESP materials evaluation and adaptation.
Scope of the study Due to the limited time, knowledge and experiment, it is impossible to mention deeply all criteria of materials evaluation, such as audience, objectives, contents, methodology, the cultural bias, the authenticity, etc. Therefore, only the three criteria including objectives, contents and methodology would be focused. Research questions The study is carried out with an attempt to find out the answers to the following questions: - Does the book Market Leader for the 1 st year Business Administration students meet the requirements of the course in terms of audience, objectives, content and methodology? - What should be done to help improve the book? 6. Methods of the study In order to achieve the aims the reliable answers to the questions mentioned above, the combination of the following methods are involved: LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 3 - Survey questionnaires were designed to collect data from the BA teachers and students in Haiphong University towards their EBP material evaluation.
- Informal interviews made teachers and students comfortably express their ideas, so the findings of the thesis are more objective. - Data analysis was employed to analyze the data collected from survey questionnaires and informal interviews. Design of the study This study consists of the main three parts: - Part A: Introduction includes the rationale, the aims, the significance, the scope, the methods, the research questions and also the design of the study - Part B: Development is devided into the following chapters: - Chapter 1: Literature review presents an overview of EBP, the roles and types of materials in language teaching and learning, materials evaluation and adaptation. - Chapter 2: Methodology describes the current EBP teaching and learning situation in Haiphong University, the methodology employed in the study, research design as well as the research procedures and the participants involved in the research process.
- Chapter 3: Findings and Discussions analyses the data and discusses the findings of the study - Chapter 4: Suggestions is the recommendations for material improvement and the conclusion of the study - Part C: Conclusion gives the conclusion of the study as well as the suggested further study and the limitations of the study LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 4 PART B: DEVELOPMENT Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 1. An overview of English for Business Purpose (EBP) 1. English for Specific Purpose (ESP) Many authors have offered their definitions and characteristics of ESP in their studies, namely Hutchison and Waters (1987), Strevens (1988) Robinson (1991), Widdowson (1983), Charles (1994 and 1996), Dudley- Evans and St John (1998). Tom Hutchinson & Alan Waters (1987) states that ESP must be seen as an approach not as a product.
ESP is not a particular kind of method or methodology, nor does it consist of a particular type of teaching material. It is an approach to language learning, which is based on learner need. ESP has paid attention to the question of how people learn, focusing instead on the question of what people learn. Although there are different approaches to ESP, the authors share the same ideas that: ESP is designed to meet specific needs of the learners; ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves; ESP is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, and register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to the activities.
According to Robinson (1991:3-4), ESP can be classified into two main types according to whether the learner requires English for work/training (EOP/EVP/VESL: English for Occupational Purposes/ English for Vocational Purposes/ Vocational English as a Second Language) or for academic study (EAP : English for Academic Purposes which is taught generally within educational institutions to students needing English in their study). Duddley – Evans and St John suggest the flowing absolute characteristics and variable characteristics. Three absolute characteristics are : - ESP is designed to meet specific needs of learners. LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 5 - ESP makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the disciplines it serves.
- ESP is centred on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills, discourse and genres appropriate to these activities. Four variable characteristics are : - ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines. - ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of general English. - ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation.
- ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students. Most ESP courses assume basic knowledge of the language system, but it can be used with beginners as well.2 English for Business Purposes (EBP) Business English is defined as follows: - Business English is the careful research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group of adult learners within a specific learning content. (Johns & Dudley-Evans, 1991) - Business English is designed to meet specified needs of the learner. (Strevens, 1998) The aims of EBP are to work or prepare to work in a business context, and deal with Business English in an occupational context.
It is also required on courses in disciplines such as business, finance, accounting and banking has more in common with the study of other EAP disciplines The characteristics of EBP can be seen from the following pie chart LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com 6 Chart 1: Characteristics of EBP (Ellis & Johnson,1994) The most important characteristic of exchanges in the context of business meetings, telephone calls, and discussions is a sense of purpose. Users of Business English need to speak English primarily so that they can achieve more in their jobs. Besides, there is a need for an internationally accepted way of doing things so that people from different cultures, and with different mother tongues, can quickly feel more comfortable with one other. Next, information has to be conveyed with minimum risk of misunderstanding, and the time for processing needs to be short.
Materials in language teaching and learning. Definition and roles of Teaching Materials The term „materials‟ as defined by Tomlinson (1998) is „anything which is used to help to teach language learners‟. It is known under various forms of a textbook, a course book, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied handout, a newspaper, news on the Internet, a story, etc. Obviously, materials, among these kinds, can be exploited variously in language teaching and learning.
Materials are used in all language teaching and their role in the process of language teaching and learning is of great significance (Dudley-Evans & St. According to Richards (2001), materials provide a basis for the content of the lesson, the appropriate proportion of skills taught, and the type of language practice students take part LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. Useful teaching materials provide great assistance to inexperienced teachers or poorly trained teachers (Nunan, 1991; Richards, 2001). They can serve as „a form of teacher training‟ (Richards, 2001:251) and teachers can get ideas on how to plan and teach the lesson from the materials.
However, teachers should remember that „course materials for English should be seen as the teacher‟s servant and not his master‟ (Cunningsworth, 1984:15). For ESP courses, Dudley-Evans & St.