MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING HUE UNIVERSITY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES -------- NGUYEN NU HANH HIEN AN INVESTIGATION INTO HUE UNIVERSITY NON-ENGLISH MAJOR STUDENTS’ PERCEPTION OF AND PREPARATION FOR THE CEFR-B1 LEVEL AS THEIR EXPECTED LEARNING OUTCOMES MA THESIS IN THEORY AND METHODOLOGY OF ENGLISH LANGUAGE TEACHING CODE: 60.11 SUPERVISOR: PHAM THI HONG NHUNG, Assoc. HUE, 2016 i BỘ GIÁO DỤC VÀ ĐÀO TẠO ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ TRƯỜNG ĐẠI HỌC NGOẠI NGỮ -------- NGUYỄN NỮ HẠNH HIÊN NGHIÊN CỨU VỀ NHẬN THỨC VÀ CHUẨN BỊ CỦA SINH VIÊN NGOẠI NGỮ KHÔNG CHUYÊN ĐẠI HỌC HUẾ ĐỐI VỚI YÊU CẦU ĐẦU RA TIẾNG ANH BẬC 3/6 LUẬN VĂN THẠC SỸ LÝ LUẬN VÀ PHƯƠNG PHÁP DẠY HỌC BỘ MÔN TIẾNG ANH MÃ SỐ: 60.11 NGƯỜI HƯỚNG DẪN KHOA HỌC: PGS. PHẠM THỊ HỒNG NHUNG HUẾ, 2016 ii STATEMENT OF ORIGINAL AUTHORSHIP The work contained in this thesis has not previously been submitted for a degree or diploma in any university. I certify that, to the best of my knowledge and belief, the thesis contains no material previously published or written by another person except where due reference is made in the thesis itself.
Nguyen Nu Hanh Hien Date: 19 December, 2016 iii ABSTRACT This study examined Hue University students’ perception of the CEFR B1 as their language outcomes. It also investigated into their preparation to achieve the CEFR B1 level as well as their suggestions for better English teaching and learning. The study collected related data from 303 second-year students from Hue University of Medicine and Pharmacy by means of questionnaire and interview, using a combination of open-ended questions and close-ended questions. The data from questionnaires were processed and presented in tables and information from the interviews were analysed to serve the research purposes.
The findings of the research show that the language outcomes were not properly communicated to the students, therefore most of them do not have accurate and sufficient perceptions to build an accordingly suitable learning strategy. The language outcomes as described in the syllabus for each level were not sufficient enough and the outcomes set by the main course-book could not faithfully serve the overall outcomes set by the General English course. As a result, students could not do adequate preparation to achieve the best results. In response to most students’ suggestion, an online site was initiated by the researcher with the hope of providing non-English major students with essential information about their General English course including the language outcomes.
iv Acknowledgement I wish to express my deep gratitude to Dr. Pham Thi Hong Nhung of Hue University of Foreign Languages, my supervisor, for her constant help, precious advice, and enlightening guidance and especially for her valuable corrections during the reading of this work in manuscript. I am grateful to all my teachers at Hue University of Foreign Languages for their useful lectures and instructions, which lay the foundation for this study. My sincere thanks are due to the teachers from ESP Department of HUFL who offered me great help and precious advice without which I could not have finished the paper.
Finally, I owe the completion of this study to my family for their words of encouragement throughout the time I worked on this study. Hue, Autumn of 2016 Nguyen Nu Hanh Hien v TABLE OF CONTENTS Contents Pages SUB COVER PAGE…………………………………………………. i SUB COVER PAGE (in Vietnamese) ………………………………… ii STATEMENT OF AUTHORSHIP……………………………………. v TABLE OF CONTENTS……………………………………………… vi LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS………………………………………….
x CONTENTS OF THESIS……………………………………………. Background of the study…………………………………………. Rationale for the study……………………………………………. The aims and research questions………………………………….
Scope of the study………………………………………………… 3 1. Structure of the thesis……………………………………………. 4 CHAPTER II: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………… 6 2. Defining key terms……………………………………………….
Learning outcomes……………………………………………… 6 vi 2. Standard-based learning outcomes……………………………… 7 2. Standard-based learning outcomes………………………………. Standard-based learning outcomes in education……………….
Standard-based learning outcomes in language education……… 9 2. The significance of learners’ perceptions of learning outcomes. The CEFR and language education………………………………. What is the CEFR?.
The use of the CEFR in language teaching……………………. The application of the CEFR in Vietnam: The 2020 Project and standard-based learning outcomes for non-English major students…… 17 2. The current state of English education for non-English major 19 students at Hue University……………………………………………. Who are the students?.