VIETNAMESE NATIONAL UNIVERSITY- HO CHI MINH CITY University of Social Sciences and Humanities LE THI NGUYET APPLYING THE CASE METHOD IN TEACHING ESP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SECURITY, HO CHI MINH CITY A THESIS SUBMITTED IN PARTIAL FULFILLMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR DEGREE OF MASTER OF ARTS (TESOL) Supervisor: NGUYEN THI KIEU THU, Ph. Ho Chi Minh City- 2010 CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: APPLYING THE CASE METHOD IN TEACHING ESP AT THE UNIVERSITY OF SECURITY, HO CHI MINH CITY in terms of the statement of Requirements of the theses in Master’s Programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee. Ho Chi Minh City June, 2010 LE THI NGUYET RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, LE THI NGUYET, 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 Theses 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 purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Library for the care, loan and reproduction of the theses.
Ho Chi Minh City, June 2010 LE THI NGUYET ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere gratitude to the following people who have made writing this thesis possible for me: First of all, I would like to express my wholehearted thanks to my thesis supervisor, Nguyen Thi Kieu Thu, Ph.D, at the University of Social Sciences and Humanities, HCMC for her enthusiastic, constant guidance and valuable advice. Without her assistance, patience, encouragement and advice, this thesis could not have been completed. She has not only shown me the limitations of my own knowledge, but also always guided me towards overcoming these problems. Gratitude is also offered to the Board of Directors at the University of Security, who gave me facilities and conditions to take part in this Master’s program.
I would also like to give many thanks to Mr. Pham Trac Kham, the Dean of the Department of Foreign Languages at the University of Security, who always gave me lots of support and encouragement to successfully implement this thesis. I owe many thanks to my colleagues and friends not only for their endless encouragement and support but also for their assistance in data collection. I simply cannot find enough words to express my thankfulness to them.
Last but not least, I would also like to thank my husband, my parents and my younger sisters for their loving support and encouragement that help me so much in finishing this thesis. ABSTRACT The case method has been one of the most widely-used method in the area of ESP. In fact, it is rather difficult to apply in teaching languages but many researchers have realized its benefits. This thesis, therefore, attempted to find out whether the case method was effective in enhancing students’ interest and communication skills as well as their ability to deal with actual situations in professional contexts through students’ attitude towards learning ESP with cases, and finally to discover how to apply the case method effectively in teaching ESP at the University of Security.
The data were collected through surveys to students’ attitude with an experimental teaching, classroom observations, questionnaires and pocket interviews to teachers. It was found that most students felt interested and motivated when learning ESP with the case method. They were more responsible for their own learning, thus working harder. In addition, they actively participated in case activities such as group discussions, role-playing or decisison-making.
More importantly, students could improve their communication skills as well as the skills of solving professional situations and making decisions. However, despite the benefits of the case method, many ESP teachers at the University of Security did not apply the case method in their ESP classes. Based on the findings, some suggestions for ESP teachers, ESP students, and administrators were made to enhance the quality of teaching ESP at the University of Security. TABLES OF CONTENTS Pages Certificate of originality i Retention and use of the thesis ii Acknowledgements iii Abstract iv Table of contents v List of tables and abbreviations xii List of figures xiii Chapter 1: INTRODUCTION 1 1.
Statement of the purpose 3 1. Significance of the Study 4 1. Organization of the Study 8 Chapter 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 10 2. An overview of English for Specific Purposes (ESP) 10 2.
What is ESP? 10 2. General characteristics of ESP 11 2. Types of ESP 13 2. How is ESP different from GE? 15 2.
Methodological approaches used in teaching ESP 17 2. The Case Method 19 2. What is a case? 19 2. Important Features of a Case 20 2.
Types of cases 21 2. Nature of a Teaching Case 23 2. Types of Case method 27 2.The teacher and student roles 28 2. The teacher and student roles in a regular class 28 2.
The teacher roles in an ESP case class 29 2. The student roles in an ESP case class 33 2. Advantages in the use of case method in teaching language 34 2. Drawbacks in the use of case method in teaching language 39 2.
Effective case teaching strategies 41 2. Summary 42 Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODODLOGY 43 3. Questionnaire for ESP students 52 3. Data Collection Procedure 53 3.
Summary 55 Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 57 4. Teachers’ evaluation of ESP students’ attitude 57 towards their learning with the case method 4. Teacher’s evaluation of ESP students’ 58 improvements in English communication skills 4. Teacher’s evaluation of ESP students’ ability of 59 dealing with real 4.
Students’ responses to the questionnaires 60 4. Students’ English background 60 4. The effectiveness of the case method in improving 61 students’ interest and their communication competence as well as their ability to deal with real situations in professional contexts 4. Students’ attitude towards their ESP learning with 66 the case method 4.
Students’ comments case activities, disadvantages 69 of the case method and necessary factors of ESP teachers, which resulted in how to apply the case method effectively in ESP classes. The ESP coursebook did not give advantages to ESP teachers in 78 teaching with the case method 4. The coursebook designers did not recognize the 78 importance of the case method and its benefits in improving the quality of teaching ESP students, therefore they neglected this method in the process of designing the coursebook’ content. The professional cases presented in the coursebook were 78 not satisfactorily and systematically arranged.
From ESP students 79 4. Students had positive attitude towards their learning and 79 the case method. Students showed active performance in the experimental 79 classes 4. Students realized the importance and effectiveness of 79 the case method.
Some difficulties of learning with the case method were 80 acknowledged 4. From ESP teachers 80 4. The importance and benefits of the case method was 80 widely acknowledged among ESP teachers 4. ESP teachers admitted that the case method was 81 difficult for both teaching and learning though it was very interesting and beneficial.
Many ESP teachers did not apply the case method in 81 their ESP classes 4. ESP teachers realized some difficulties of applying the 82 case method in teaching ESP at the University of Security 4. SUMMARY 82 Chapter 5: CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS 83 5. Recommendations for ESP teachers at the University of Security 85 5.
ESP teachers ought to apply the case method in their 85 ESP classes to improve students’ communication skills. ESP teachers ought to help students prepare for good 85 discussions. ESP teachers should use many kinds of case activities to 90 arouse students’ interest in learning ESP. ESP teachers ought to spend a lot of time preparing 94 lesson plans carefully and selecting effective professional cases.
ESP teachers should use current professional cases that 94 are updated and familiar with students 5. ESP teachers ought to use technological equipments 95 such as screens, projectors, laptops, etc. to enhance the effectiveness of the case method in teaching ESP. ESP teachers must create a collaborative and learner- 95 centered learning environment.
ESP teachers ought to identify the difficulties and 97 drawbacks of the case method in teaching ESP, admit them and find out ways to overcome them. ESP teachers ought to improve both ESP knowledge and 97 understanding of Vietnamese law and national security. Recommendations for ESP students 98 5. Students ought to improve both GE and ESP vocabulary 98 5.
Students ought to improve an understanding of 98 Vietnamese law and national security. Students must take responsibility for their own learning 98 and find out their active strategies in learning ESP with cases to exploit the effectiveness of the case method. Recommendations for the Department of Foreign Languages at 99 the University of Security 5. Increasing the time for case activities in the course 99 syllabus 5.
Writing more different kinds of case activities in the 100 coursebook so that ESP teachers find it easy to apply the case method in teaching ESP. Moreover, professional cases should be presented in the coursebook satisfactorily and systematically. Including case questions on mid-term and final exams 100 5. Holding some seminars about how to apply the case 101 method in teaching ESP.
Recommendations for the Board of Directors at the University of 101 Security 5. Equipping ESP classrooms with projectors and screens 101 that are needed to exploit the effectiveness of the case method in teaching ESP. Creating a motivating and convenient setting for students 102 to carry out case activities after class REFERENCES 103 APPENDICES 110 Appendix A ……………………………………………………. 148 Appendix H ……………………………………………………… 150 Appendix I ……………………………………………………… 152 Appendix J ……………………………………………………….
LIST OF TABLES AND ABBREVIATIONS TABLES Table 4.1: Students’ communication skills Table 4.2: Effects of the case method on students’ future jobs Table 4.3: The benefits of the case method Table 4.4: Students’ attitude towards their ESP learning Table 4.5: Comparison of the case method with the grammar-translation method Table 4.6: Students’ evaluation towards interesting case activities in class Table 4.7: Students’ evaluation towards class cases Table 4.8: The disadvantages of the case method Table 4.9: Necessary factors of teachers who teach ESP with cases ABBREVIATIONS ESP: English for Specific Purposes GE: General English ELT: English Language Teaching ESP-B: Business English IT: Information Technology HCMC: Ho Chi Minh City TESOL: Teaching English to Speakers of Other Languages LIST OF FIGURES Figure 4.1: Students’ years of learning English at school Figure 4.2: Students’ results of General English in the previous semester Figure 4.3: Students’ attitude towards their ESP learning with the case method 1 Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1. Background to the study 1. Rationale To meet the requirements of the global integrated world, Vietnamese non- majored students now need to gain both General English (GE) and English for Specific Purposes (ESP). In the field of GE, many teachers have spent a lot of time searching for effective teaching methods and techniques to help their students gain both linguistic and communicative competence.
Likewise, ESP teachers have aimed to help students to be competent second language users in specific professional fields, and helping them to deal with real professional situations is one of the key learning objectives that ESP teachers pursue. In the area of ESP, one of the most widely-used techniques has been the case method. Among its more salient characteristics, as far as ESP is concerned, the case method is fundamentally communicative. Professional authentic material is used and the process is totally learner-centered.
Like students at other universities in Vietnam, those at the University of Security take both General English and ESP courses. However, there is not enough attention paid to searching for effective ESP teaching methods, so the ESP learning is not learner-centered and interesting. In addition, students cannot apply the theories that they have learnt in dealing with real professional situations.