VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY THE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE Tran Thanh Du RECOMMENDATIONS OF A NEW ENGLISH SYLLABUS FOR STUDENTS OF PHARMACEUTICAL DEPARTMENT, BEN TRE MEDICAL COLLEGE A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Supervisor: Le Thi Thanh, Ph. Ho Chi Minh City - May 2010 VIET NAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY – HO CHI MINH CITY THE UNIVERSITY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES AND HUMANITIES DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH LINGUISTICS AND LITERATURE Tran Thanh Du RECOMMENDATIONS OF A NEW ENGLISH SYLLABUS FOR STUDENTS OF PHARMACEUTICAL DEPARTMENT, BEN TRE MEDICAL COLLEGE A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS IN TESOL Code: 601410 Supervisor: Le Thi Thanh, Ph. Ho Chi Minh City - May 2010 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My first acknowledgements are made to my supervisor, Dr Le Thi Thanh, for her valuable directions, comments, corrections and her constant encouragement during the development of this study report. She also provided me with necessary references for the paper.
Without her help, the research paper could not have been completed. I would also like to exhibit my gratitude to Master Nguyen Quoc Thoi, Head of Ben Tre Medical College and Mr Nguyen Van Pha, Dean of Department of General Education, Mrs Tran Thi Minh Trang, Dean of Pharmaceutical Department, Ben Tre Medical College, who have given me the opportunities to teach, to attend and to observe experimental classes at the college, giving more evidence to this final study report. I own a great deal to all of my lecturers at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, Ho Chi Minh City (USSH) for their helpful instruction during my pursuing the MA program. In addition, I wish to thank all of my colleagues at USSH and those at Ben Tre Medical College for their support and encouragement.
I would also like to express my sincere thanks to the students and teachers at Ben Tre Medical College, who have participated in my research work and provided me with indispensable data for the study. Last but not least, my sincere thanks go to my family and others whose support has been especially important to the success of my educational endeavors. i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today, which is entitled: RECOMMENDATIONS OF A NEW ENGLISH SYLLABUS FOR STUDENTS OF PHARMACEUTICAL DEPARTMENT, BEN TRE MEDICAL COLLEGE In terms of the statement of requirements for the thesis and field study reports in Master’s Program (TESOL) issued by Higher Degree Committee. Ho Chi Minh City, May 7, 2010 Author’s signature, Tran Thanh Du ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Tran Thanh Du, 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 Thesis 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 the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for care, loan or reproduction of thesis. Ho Chi Minh City, May 7, 2010 Tran Thanh Du iii ABSTRACT It is an undeniable fact that English is playing a more and more important role in society nowadays due to the fact that this language has been served as a means of communication among people working in different professional fields. That is the reason why English has been incorporated as a compulsory subject in almost every vocational school, college and university in Viet Nam. However, the teaching and learning of English in these situations are still facing many problems.
One of the reasons for this is the lack of an effective syllabus or the inappropriateness of teaching and learning materials, especially in ESP (English for specific purposes) Therefore, this study aims to examine the problems of teaching and learning English at the Pharmaceutical Department, Ben Tre Medical College, concerning the use of the present syllabus and their influence on students’ motivation all in an effort to find out solutions for the designing of a better syllabus that is effective and motivating to students of the department. As an effort to identify the situation, a survey was carried out to find out teachers’ and students’ attitudes towards the current syllabus as well as their suggestions for a better change in the language program for these students. The participants involved in the study and interviews were the teachers in charge of the course, some specialized- subject teachers, the recruiters, the current pharmaceutical students and the graduates. The findings reveal that the current syllabus is ineffective due to the fact that this syllabus does not meet students’ needs as well as the expectations of the department and the society.
The study also proposes a new syllabus and this syllabus has been put into experimental teaching and proved to be better and more effective than the current one. Based on the findings, the suggestions for better practice were made. It is hoped that the result of the study as well as the newly designed syllabus will allow the recommendations that may be helpful to teachers and students in teaching and learning English at the pharmaceutical department at Ben Tre Medical College in particular and in vocational colleges of Medicine and Health in general. iv TABLES OF CONTENTS Content Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS………………………………………………………….…i CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY………………………………………….…ii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS……………………………………….iv TABLES OF CONTENTS……………………………………….vi LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS………….xiii LIST OF TABLES………………………………………………….…xiv LIST OF CHARTS……………………………………………………………………….xv Chapter I: INTRODUCTION………………………………………………………………………1 I.
English teaching and learning in Viet Nam…………………………………. A general view on English teaching and learning at Bentre Medical College and at the Pharmaceutics Department…………….The teaching staff………………………………………………………………. Setting goals and expectations…………………………………………………6 I. Teaching and learning resources……………………………………….The current syllabus of English at BMC……………………….
Students’ motivation in learning English at BMC……………………………. THE RATIONALE OF THE STUDY……………………………………………10 I. THE PURPOSES AND QUESTIONS OF THE STUDY…………………………12 I. Purposes of the study:………………………………………………………….
Questions of the study:…………………………………………………………. THE STUDY SIGNIFICANCE……………………………. OVERVIEW OF THE THESIS CHAPTERS………………………………….14 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………. Related studies on the theory of syllabus design in the world…………………….
Definition and types of syllabi…………………………………………………. Definitions of syllabi……………………………………. Types of syllabi…………………………. Types of syllabi……….
Practical view on the choice of syllabi……………………. Content-based syllabus…………………………………. English for specific purposes (ESP)…………. Approaches to syllabus design………….
Syllabus design process…………………………………………………. Definition of needs analysis…………………………………. Purposes of needs analysis…………. Subjects of needs analysis…………………………………………………23 II.
Types of information to be found in needs analysis…………. Instruments for needs analysis …………………. Needs analysis process………………………………………………. Goal and objective settings………………………………….
Kinds of goals……………………………………………………………. Relationship between goals and objectives…………. Selection of contents…………………………………. Organization of contents…………………………………………….
Motivation and motivation in foreign language learning………………. Definition of motivation…………………. Kinds of motivation…………………………………………………. The effects of motivation…………………………………………………….
The relationship between syllabi and motivation in language learning………38 II. Related studies of syllabus design in Viet Nam………………………………….…………………………………………………41 CHAPTER III: METHODOLOGY………………. Overview of methodology……………………. Description of data collection procedures………………….
Participants and instruments……………………………………………………43 III. Data collection procedures………………………………………………………49 III.………………………………………………50 CHAPTER 4: RESULTS AND DATA ANALYSIS……………. Results of the survey…………………. Responses to the questionnaires ……………………………………………….
Responses to the interviews……………………………………………………. Job opportunities for PD students………………………. The importance of English in the field of pharmacy and kinds of English needed for PD students…………………. Responses from teachers of English………………………….
Teachers’ evaluation on the current syllabus………………………………. Teachers’ perceptions of the relationship between syllabi and motivation - some suggestions for improvements. Staff members’ responses………. Summary of the interviews…………………………………….
Class observation results………………………………………………………70 IV. The author’ findings from class observation……. Time allocation and class size:……………………………………. Students’ English background……………………………….
Class activities………………………………………………………………74 IV. Responses from the students…………….………………………………………78 CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS…………………. Reasons for the improvements……………………………………. Guidelines for designing a syllabus for PD students………….
The syllabus should provide students with two separate stages: GE and ……………………. Varying the syllabus types for these students………………………. In ESP, restricting students’ competence to reading skills only…. Simplify the text to give students full understanding of the contents….
Make sure the ESP reading texts have readability characteristics which Cause no structural as well as lexical difficulties……………. Take students’ majors into consideration in dealing with ESP………. Include pictures and explanations in the syllabus………………. The revised syllabus framework……………………….
Aspects of the syllabus……………………………………………. The contents of the syllabus…………………………….93 (1) Stage 1: General English Stage………………………………….92 (2) Stage 2: English for Specific Purposes…………………………………. Reasons for the choice of the course book “Let’s study English” as the course book in the first stage……………………. General evaluation of the revised syllabus in view of pedagogical and linguistic requirements……………………….
The GE syllabus:………………………………………………………. The ESP syllabus:………………. Guidelines for incorporating the syllabus into language classrooms…………. Teaching methods and techniques……………………….
Adapting the book “Let’s study English” to the DP students………. Supporting materials and facilities…………………………. Evaluation and assignments………………………. The summary of the study…………………………………….
Delimitations and limitations…………………………………. Recommendations for further study………………………….…………………107 REFERENCES…………………… ix APPENDIX 1: A PHARMACIST TRAINING COURSE ………………………….114 APPENDIX 2: THE ENGLISH CURRICULUM………/…………….120 APPENDIX 3: THE CURRENT ESP MATERIALS FOR PD STUDENTS………//.123 APPENDIX 4: RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR 2008-GRADUATE STUDENTS….131 APPENDIX 5: RESEARCH QUESTIONS FOR THE CURRENT STUDENTS (AFTER ATTENDING THE CLASS WITH THE NEWLY SUGGESTED ESP)….137 APPENDIX 6: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR THE EMPLOYERS…………….140 APPENDIX 7: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR TEACHERS OF ENGLISH…….142 APPENDIX 8: INTERVIEW QUESTIONS FOR STAFF MEMBERS OF THE PD.144 APPENDIX 9: FINAL TEST OF ESP……………………………………………….146 APPENDIX 10: OVERVIEW OF UNITS IN “LET’S STUDY ENGLISH”……….152 APPENDIX 11: SAMPLE UNITS IN “LET’S STUDY ENGLISH”……….………156 APPENDIX 12: FULL ESP CONTENTS…………………………………………….162 x LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS BA: Bachelor of Arts BMC: Ben Tre Medical College CLT: Communicative Language Teaching EFL: English as a Foreign Language ESP: English for Specific Purposes ELT: English Language Teaching ET: Experimental Teaching FELL: Faculty of English Linguistics and Literature GE: General English GTM: Grammar Translation Method HCMC: Ho Chi Minh City IT: Instructional Technology M.: Master of Arts MOET: Ministry of Education and Training PD: Pharmaceutical Department TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other languages USSH: University of Social Sciences and Humanities xi LIST OF TABLES Table Page Table 1: Characteristics of teachers of English……………………………….6 Table 2: The working places of the 2008-graduate students………………………….44 Table 3: Characteristics of subjects in the interview………………………………….46 Table 4: Students’ levels of English after attending the English course at BMC …….52 Table 5: Students’ average scores of English after attending the course at PD…………53 Table 6: Students’ ideas on the time budget for the course………….53 Table 7: Students’ ideas on the usefulness of the syllabus to their profession……….55 Table 8: Students’ satisfaction on the contents of “Headway series”………….………55 Table 9: Students’ evaluation on the contents of the ESP materials…….56 Table 10: Students’ ideas in difficulty levels of the texts………………….……………56 Table 11: Students’ ideas on the opportunities for using English in their profession…57 Table 12: Kinds of English necessary to their professions………….…………………58 Table 13: Students’ ideas on the use of English in their profession…………………….59 Table 14: Ideas from the employees for an effective syllabus………………………….60 Table 15: Students’ final scores of English.72 Table 16: Students’ evaluation on the suggested ESP materials……….75 Table 17: Students’ scores on the final ESP test……………….77 Table 18: Suggested distribution for the whole English course……………….92 Table 19: The suggested ESP syllabus framework……….94 Table 20: Criteria for evaluating the syllabus……………….………98 xii LIST OF CHARTS Content Page Chart 1: Kinds of English necessary to their professions………………………………58 Chart 2: Students’ ideas on the use of English in their profession…………………….59 Chart 3: Ideas from the employees for an effective syllabus……………………………61 Chart 4: Students’ final scores of English before attending the experimental Classes…72 Chart 5: Students’ evaluation on the contents of the suggested ESP materials…….76 Chart 6: Students’ evaluation on the organization of the contents………………………6 Chart 7: Students’ scores on the final ESP test………………….