MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY --------------- THESIS A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH-MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 By Ngo Viet Hoai Supervised by Assoc. Pham Huu Duc Ba Ria-Vung Tau – 2022 i CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY.iii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS. vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION. Rationale of the Study.
Background and Context to the Research. Objectives of the study. Scope of the study. Significance of the study.
Definitions of the terms. 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW .2 Definition of Needs Analysis in teaching and learning language.3 Classification of Needs .4 Models of Needs Analysis .5 Procedures of Needs Analysis. 23 CHAPTER 3 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY. Reliability and validity.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS. Current students’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills. Compare means of eight factors for the current students’ needs. Teachers needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills.
The former students’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills. The enterprises’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills. The gaps between the requirements of the students’ needs and other stakeholders. 45 CHAPTER 5 CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS.
Limitations and recommendations. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS. QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FORMER STUDENTS.
QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENTERPRISES. 61 APPENDIX 5: CONSENT FORM. 63 iii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH-MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES – BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University Ba Ria - Vung Tau, July 2022 Ngo Viet Hoai iv RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Ngo Viet Hoai, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library. In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses.
Ba Ria - Vung Tau, July 2022 Ngo Viet Hoai v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks are due to all those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion. First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Assoc. Pham Huu Duc, my supervisor, for his valuable comments and suggestions during the whole research process. His dynamism, enthusiasm, vision as well as his patience have deeply inspired me.
Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed. Secondly, I am very grateful to the Postgraduate Institute of Ba Ria – Vung Tau University who have supported me much time to implement this thesis. My sincere thanks also go to my friends and colleagues for all her help and encouragement. I would like to thank the research participants who have contributed to this study.
Last but not least, I warmly thank my family for their countless support, greatest sympathy and unconditional love. vi ABSTRACT As the primary goal of English for specific purposes (ESP) is to educate students to utilize English in specific job settings, it is critical for ESP course planners to be aware of student needs to conduct a requirements analysis to help curriculum designers in developing effective ESP courses or programs. Thus, a course without a requirements analysis lacks the specific and explicit goals needed to deliver the attention needed for clear and effective outcomes. ESP courses that are created without a needs analysis typically have too much or too little teaching to fulfill the needs of the students.
To find out the reasons for former students’ poor English achievement and what and how the Business English program can be improved in the case of Baria-Vung Tau University, a proper needs analysis (NA) is needed. Therefore, this study used a model for Business English courses of Dudley-Evans and St John (1998), and Dudley-Evans (1998) to measure the current students’ needs as well as other stakeholders’ needs in terms of foreign trade operation skills. The research found out some valid results to answer the research questions why all stakeholders are interested in foreign trade operation skills course and whether it is a practical subject for English for business program. Future research may use this study as the basis to improve the intake of ESP students’ knowledge in order to accelerate the input of ESP learning and hopefully to shorten the learning time.
Rationale of the Study Because the primary goal of ESP is to educate students to utilize English in specific job settings, it is critical for ESP course planners to be aware of student needs (Basturkmen, 2010). Accordingly, conducting a requirements analysis, can assist curriculum designers in developing effective ESP courses or programs. A course without a requirements analysis lacks the specific and explicit goals needed to deliver the attention needed for clear and effective outcomes. The most essential contribution of requirements analysis to the development of the ESP course is that it aids the course designer in understanding the learners’ needs.
As a result, course designers may create the best content, resources, pedagogical techniques, assessment criteria, and course evaluation to assist learners achieve their targeted attitude, knowledge, and skills goals. Needs analysis, according to Evans et al. (2011), is usually considered as the first step in the process. According to Hyland (2006), requirements analysis is also considered as a continuous activity that occurs as part of the course development process.
Important decisions about learning objectives, material selection, instructional tactics, and evaluation may be made by determining the individual requirements of learners in the ESP course (Jin, 2014). Therefore, the historical history, techniques, and execution of the requirements analysis process are all important for ESP practitioners to understand (Evans et al. From these views above, university ESP courses or programs must recognize these expectations and ensure that the language taught reflects these real-world realities. Thus, an awareness of its English language demands should shape the content of university ESP courses relating to Foreign Trade Operating Skills in English for Business.
Background and Context to the Research In today’s globalized world, English is extensively used in a variety of situations, from social to corporate, academic, and scientific fields. For decades, there has been an increasing need for studying English for communication, education, and career. English Language Teaching (ELT) was created in response to this trend to accommodate the ever-increasing demand of learners who desire to perfect their English language abilities for various purposes. English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a part of ELT that focuses on the needs of learners in specific circumstances including occupation, science, academic, and business.
As a result, ESP is viewed as a teaching method that can meet specific demands of learners that General English cannot. Many earlier language studies have defined ESP differently. It is a method of teaching English to students who desire to utilize the language for specific professional, academic, or scientific goals (Robinson, 1980). When analyzing the purpose of ESP, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) asked, “Why does this student need to learn a foreign language?” Regardless of any differences in the definition of ESP, it is a learner-centered English teaching approach that must meet the needs of learners in a target context in some way.
The purpose of an ESP program is to assist learners to realize their goals of utilizing English in the target setting by combining general English and topic knowledge. Special topic matter is critical in ESP programs because it inspires students and ensures that they comprehend the concepts or ideas that the English language is describing (Cozens, 2006, p. In this context, English for Business Purposes (or Business English) is a subset of ESP that focuses on teaching English in business, commerce, marketing, and other related professions. Learners of Business English gain English language abilities as well as specific business knowledge in terms of terminology, vocabulary, grammar, and skills, which many individuals require to function well at work.
Making sales pitches, presentations, negotiations, small conversations, attending conferences, business travel, composing emails and reports, reading instructions and technical 3 manuals, and other business circumstances need these talents. As a result, proficiency in Business English is required for a successful career. To find out the reasons for former student’s poor English achievement and what and how the Business English program can be improved in the case of Baria- Vung Tau University, a proper Needs Analysis (NA) is needed. Iwai et al.6) defined NA as follows: “the term needs analysis generally refers to the activities that are involved in collecting information that will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum that will meet the needs of a particular group of students”.
NA is used to determine “what learners will be required to do with the foreign language in the target situation, and how learners might best master the target language during the period of training” (West, 1994, p. NA is an important method to collect data and help the course designer find out the language learners need in a target situation, making the language program more consistent with actual contexts in a real life. NA may be used to evaluate programs and introduce new ideas to satisfy the requirements of students. It gives insight into how learners, teachers, and businesses think about what can be done to help students improve their English skills.
These viewpoints can be used to tailor an English education to the needs of students and to meet the demands of employers. Moreover, because each work entails employing one or more of the abilities more than the others, a NA is also useful in evaluating which skills among listening, speaking, writing, and reading are priority in a certain occupational function. Thus, conducting a NA seems to be an appropriate strategy to find out the type of English students’ need for their career in the field of foreign trade. From these current situations, it is necessary to conduct a Needs Analysis to collect information about perspectives of learners, teachers, former students, and employers in relation to their satisfaction level with the English program provided at the university and suggestions to improve the quality of student’s performance in handling foreign trade activities.
Although the needs of stakeholders (enterprises, teachers, former students, and current students) may vary, the gaps between the 4 requirements of the students’ needs and other stakeholders are not of any differences. However, there is a problem with the current students that they are not really interested in this subject, and their willingness is not high enough to have a plan to study FTOS effectively. The reason may be that the current students have not identified their real goals or have not implemented the study plan in the best way. Objectives of the study The main goal of this thesis was to conduct a needs analysis in an English for the Foreign Trade Operation Skills (FTOS) context at Baria-Vungtau University (BVU) from April to November 2021.
The needs analysis process explored the gap between the learning objectives and real businesses in skills and language used in FTOS course, especially, the English language needs of undergraduates in a Business English program with the aim of providing guidelines for redesigning and developing an appropriate FTOS course. It can help curriculum designers to adjust curriculum design course. Therefore, graduates can better meet the needs of businesses.