VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HA NOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES KHỔNG THỊ HỒNG LÊ DESIGNING A SUPPLEMENTARY READING SYLLABUS WITH A VIEW TO IMPROVING READING SKILLS FOR THE FIRST-YEAR ENGLISH MAJORS AT HAI PHONG PRIVATE UNIVERSITY (Thiết kế chương trình đọc hiểu bổ trợ nhằm cải thiện kĩ năng đọc cho sinh viên chuyên ngành tiếng Anh năm thứ nhất tại trường Đại học Dân lập Hải Phòng) M.A MINOR THESIS Field: English Teaching Methodology Code: 60.10 HANOI – 2012 TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS Pages Acknowledgment ………………………………………………………….iii Table of contents …………………………………………………….iv List of abbreviations ………………………………………………………….viii Part A: Introduction 1. Aims and objectives of the study …………………………………………. Scope of the study ……………………………. Significance of the study ……………………….
Methods of the study ……………………………. Structure of the study …………………………….… 4 Part B: Development Chapter I: Literature Review 1. Definition of syllabus ……………………………. The role of the syllabus …………………………….
Types of syllabus ………………………………. Grammatical or structural syllabus ………………………. Topical or content-based syllabus ………………………. Competency-based syllabus ……………………………….
Skill-based syllabus …………………………. Task-based syllabus ………………………….… 9 iv TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Text-based syllabus …………………………. Approaches to syllabus design 1.
The language-centered approach ………. The skills-centered approach ………. The learning-centered approach ………. Steps in syllabus design 1.
Definition of needs analysis ………. Methods of needs analysis ………. Types of needs ………. Selecting and grading content 1.
Selecting the content ……………. Grading the content ………. Selecting and grading tasks and activities 1. Selecting tasks and activities ……….
Grading tasks and activities ………. Supplementary reading syllabus 1. Rationale for using supplementary reading syllabus in FLT …… 17 1. The guidelines for selecting a supplementary reading text for the syllabus ……….
The role of reading in second language acquisition ……….… 20 Chapter II: Methodology The teaching and learning situation with the current reading textbook at HPU ……………………………………. 23 v TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.com The teaching staff of Foreign Language Department …………….23 A critical look at the existing syllabus …………………………….24 The study The subjects ………………………………………………………….25 Data collection instruments and procedures Data collection instruments ………………………………….25 Data collection procedure ……………………………….25 Major findings and discussion 2. Needs perceived by the teachers of FLD 2. Teachers‟ expectations for the supplementary reading syllabus ….
Necessary topics perceived by the teachers of FLD ……………. Necessary grammar and structures perceived by the teachers of FLD ……………………………………………………………………………. Necessary reading skills/ exercises perceived by the teachers of FLD ………………………………………………………………………. Needs perceived by the learners 2.
Students‟ expectations for the supplementary reading syllabus …. Necessary topics perceived by the students ………………………. Necessary grammar and structures perceived by the students …. Necessary reading skills/ exercises perceived by the students ….29 Chapter III: Designing a supplementary reading syllabus with a view of improving reading skills for the first- year English majors at HPU 3.
Proposed objectives of the supplementary reading syllabus ………. Selecting a type of syllabus for the first-year English majors at FLD, HPU ……………………………………………………………………. Sequencing the content and the tasks in the syllabus vi TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Selecting the content 3.
Reading skills and reading exercises …………. Grammar and structures …………. Grading the items in the syllabus …………. The organization of the syllabus 3.
Quantity and structure of the syllabus …………. Designing tests for the supplementary reading syllabus ………………. The proposed supplementary reading material for the first-year English majors at HPU ………………………………………………………. I vii TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.University List of abbreviations ELT English Language Teaching ESP English for Specific Purposes ESL English as the Second Language E English FLD Foreign Language Department FLT Foreign Language Teaching GE General English HPU Haiphong Private University N Number SLA Second Language Acquisition Ss Students Ts Teachers Us Units ULIS University of Languages and International Studies V Vietnamese VNU Vietnam National University viii (LUAN.University TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.University Part A: Introduction 1.
Rationale There is no denying that English is becoming a dominant language over the past few years, especially in the context of globalization and internationalization as stated by Crystal (2003: 189) that “there has never been a language so widely spread or spoken by so many people as English. There are therefore no precedents to help us see what happens to a language when it achieves genuine world status”. It is the ongoing process of regional and global integration that has led to the highly increasing demand for English teaching and learning worldwide. Wallace (2003: 67) adds that “the role of English as a second language has taken on new urgency with its ever-extending global reach”.
Therefore, the need for people with good English proficiency is undeniable. This requires students in the new era to be equipped with the most essential knowledge in order that they are able to meet the society‟s needs. In Vietnam, English is also given the high priority by many schools and organizations. However, Vietnamese students hardly have opportunities to use communicative English outside the classroom.
In fact, they can have access to a great number of specialized documents written in English via electronic or printed sources in order to broaden their knowledge and update information in their study day by day. Hence, for these students, “reading by far is the most important of four skills” for their study as well as their future job (Carrel, 1988: 1). This puts a big burden on teachers of English in enhancing reading skills for their learners. The first-year English major students at HPU are no exception.
They also realize the paramount importance of reading in the process of learning English. Nevertheless, they face problems with the current reading syllabus which does not appear helpful enough to assist them to improve their English proficiency in terms of reading skills and grammar structures. They seem to cope with a lot of difficulties in memorizing and using the language due to the lack of grammatical 1 (LUAN.University TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. It can be seen that the current reading syllabus mainly focuses on providing students with numerous vocabularies through a huge number of reading texts on different fields whereas reading skills and grammar structures are paid little attention.
The existing syllabus undoubtedly proves its failure to meet the students‟ needs. Students do not actively participate in reading activities, which causes headache for all the teachers at FLD, HPU. In an effort to find out the solution to this problem, it is advised by many experts that using authentic materials can help to bring the real world into the classroom and more importantly, enliven the class or motivate learners in studying the language because they can provide up-to-date knowledge for learners, expose them to the world of authentic target language (Martinez, 2002; Kaprova, 1999; Leloup & Pronterio, 2000; Dumitrescu, 2000). This proves the significance of authentic materials in general and supplementary materials in particular.
Hence, developing a supplementary reading syllabus which can enrich learners‟ English vocabularies, strengthen their reading skills and at the same time consolidate their English grammar is becoming more and more crucial than ever. Therefore, a lot of attempts have been made to do a research on “designing a supplementary reading syllabus with a view to improving reading skills for the first- year English majors at HPU”. The study is conducted with the hope of having a positive effect on learners‟ motivation and language acquisition, especially in reading skills. Aims and objectives of the study The ultimate goal of the study is to propose a supplementary reading syllabus for the first-year English majors at HPU with a view to improving their reading skills.
In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives will be addressed in the study: To identify the needs perceived by both the first-year English major students and the teachers towards the supplementary reading syllabus for English freshmen at HPU 2 (LUAN.University TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.University To propose a supplementary reading syllabus based on needs analysis 3. Research questions To achieve the aforementioned aim and objectives, the following research questions are set out to be answered: What objectives do the learners expect to gain through the supplementary reading syllabus from the perspectives of the teachers and students? What knowledge do the learners expect to achieve in terms of vocabulary, grammar and skill through the supplementary reading syllabus from the perspectives of the teachers and students? 4. Scope of the study This study was initiated from the urgent needs to design a supplementary reading syllabus to supplement the current textbook “Tapestry Reading 1” being used for the first-year English majors at HPU. It was carried out within FLD at HPU and the priority was given to reading skill.
The subject of the study mainly aimed at all the freshmen of English major whose English proficiency is at pre-intermediate level and all the teachers in charge of teaching reading skill. Within the scope of a minor thesis, this study focused on the designing process itself; only basic theories concerning syllabus design and reading were presented. Significance of the study The study is of great significance to both the first-year English major students and the teachers responsible for teaching reading skill because it may have a great contribution to ESL teaching and learning. For learners, the study may help them realize the importance of supplementary reading materials in their study and have a useful reference source to enhance their reading ability and self-study at home.
Besides, for teachers, the study will be a valuable source for them to apply in teaching reading skill to their learners without taking too much of their effort and time. It is expected that the results of the study will enable both teachers and learners to feel more enjoyable with reading lessons. Methods of the study 3 (LUAN.University TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail.University The study takes full advantages of the survey research which involves data collected by means of questionnaires because the questionnaire is considered as “a useful and relatively cheap method of rapidly collecting a wide range of views” (Holmes, 2006: 143). These questionnaires will be delivered to two main subjects, one aims at the first-year English majors, and the rest aims at the teachers at FLD.
The key purpose of these questionnaires is to identify the teachers and students‟ needs for the supplementary reading syllabus in terms of needed topics, grammar structures and reading skills/ exercises. Document analysis is also employed in the process of materials selection for the syllabus. Structure of the study The study contains three main parts: Part A: Introduction presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions, scope, significance, methods and structure of the study. Part B: Development, which is the core of the study, consists of three chapters: Chapter I reviews the literature regarding syllabus design, supplementary reading syllabus, and reading theories.
Chapter II gives a detailed description of the study including its background, subjects, instruments and procedures for collecting data as well as the findings of the study. Chapter III proposes a supplementary reading syllabus for the first-year English majors at HPU basing on the findings of the study. Part C: Conclusion includes a summary of the study, limitations and suggestions for further research. Part B: Development Chapter I: theoretical background 1.
Syllabus design 4 (LUAN.University TIEU LUAN MOI download : skknchat@gmail. Definition of syllabus Syllabus is a common and familiar notion in language teaching and learning. Many of the teachers regard syllabus as a standard material orienting them what should be taught to their learners. In fact, there exist various perceptions on syllabus by different authors such as Allen (1984), Dubin and Olshtain (1986), Nunan (1988), Yalden (1987) and Hutchinson and Water (1987).
It is important to distinguish between the narrow and broad approach to syllabus definition. In the narrow view, some authors believe that syllabus and methodology are separate notions while others advocating the broader view ague that it is not straightforward to distinguish between content and tasks.