VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ----*---- PHẠM THÙY DƢƠNG DESIGNING A GRAMMAR-VOCABULARY SYLLABUS AS THE FOUNDATION FOR STUDENTS BEFORE TAKING THE TOEIC PREPARATION COURSE AT THE ENGLISH CENTRE TIENGANH.VN IN HANOI (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỌC NGỮ PHÁP-TỪ VỰNG LÀM NỀN TẢNG CHO HỌC VIÊN TRƯỚC KHI THAM DỰ KHÓA HỌC LUYỆN THI TOEIC TẠI TRUNG TÂM TIẾNG ANH TIENGANH.VN TẠI HÀ NỘI) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 HÀ NỘI – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES ----*---- PHẠM THÙY DƢƠNG DESIGNING A GRAMMAR-VOCABULARY SYLLABUS AS THE FOUNDATION FOR STUDENTS BEFORE TAKING THE TOEIC PREPARATION COURSE AT THE ENGLISH CENTRE TIENGANH.VN IN HANOI (THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH HỌC NGỮ PHÁP-TỪ VỰNG LÀM NỀN TẢNG CHO HỌC VIÊN TRƯỚC KHI THAM DỰ KHÓA HỌC LUYỆN THI TOEIC TẠI TRUNG TÂM TIẾNG ANH TIENGANH.VN TẠI HÀ NỘI) M. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS Field : English Teaching Methodology Code : 60140111 Supervisor: Dr. Kiều Thị Thu Hƣơng HÀ NỘI – 2014 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com DECLARATION I hereby, certify the thesis entitled “Designing a grammar-vocabulary syllabus as the foundation for students before taking the TOEIC preparation course at the English centre TiengAnh.vn in Hanoi” is the result of my own research for the Minor Degree of Master of Arts at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam National University, Hanoi.
The thesis has not been submitted for any degree at any other universities or institutions. I agree that the origin of my paper deposited in the library can be accessible for the purposes of study and research. Hanoi, 2014 Phạm Thuỳ Dƣơng i LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to express my sincere thanks to my supervisor Dr. Kieu Thi Thu Huong, without whom this thesis could not have been completed.
Her thoughtful suggestions and comments at the early stages of the thesis have been valuable. She not only gave me reliable guidelines but also shared much of her experience in language studying and teaching. I am also indebted to her for her invaluable guidance, intellectual support and constant encouragement. I also want to send my special thanks to Assoc.
Le Hung Tien for his valuable and interesting course in Research Methodology, which provides me with essential techniques to complete this thesis. My deep appreciation goes to all staff, lecturers and members at Faculty of Post- Graduate Studies of University of Languages and International Studies - Vietnam National University, Hanoi for their work and services. I would be very grateful to my lecturers, whose profundities have influenced my way of thinking about doing research. Especially, I am grateful to the librarians who supplied me with sufficient materials.
My thanks are also extended to all my students, my colleagues in the English centre TiengAnh.vn, and all the people who have assisted my research work. I would like to thank my friends, my classmates for their advice and useful documents. Last but not least, my gratitude is due to my family, especially my husband, for their endurance and constant support during my M. They have always given me their endless love, understanding and encouragement.
To all of them I dedicate this work. ii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com ABSTRACT This study has been conducted to investigate some main requirements of the TOEIC test in terms of grammar and vocabulary with the purpose of designing an appropriate syllabus for the grammar-vocabulary course as the foundation for the TOEIC preparation course in the English Centre TiengAnh.vn in Hanoi. The subjects of the study are ten actual TOEIC tests. The data have been collected by both quantitative method, including two statistics, and qualitative method which is five informal interviews.
The study confirms that to prepare good foundation before entering the TOEIC preparation course in the centre, students should carefully study some grammatical points as well as some vocabulary topics that the test normally covers. The findings exhibit that ten grammatical points and eighteen vocabulary topics chosen from popular TOEIC books have high occurrence frequencies in the TOEIC test. Therefore, they should be emphasized by the syllabus designer and the teacher of the course so that the students could be equipped with the most suitable knowledge before taking the TOEIC preparation course. Based on the findings, a grammar-vocabulary syllabus is constructed for the course.
Some limitations as well as suggestions for further study are also presented at the end of the research. iii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION. III TABLE OF CONTENTS. VII LIST OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES .VIII PART I: INTRODUCTION.
Rationale for the study. Aims of the study. Scope and significance of the study. Methods of the study.
Design of the study. 5 PART II: DEVELOPMENT. 6 CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW .1 An overview on syllabus design .1 Definition of syllabus .2 Types of syllabuses .2 Functional-notional syllabus……………………………….3 Procedural syllabus/Task-based syllabus .6 Structural-lexical syllabus (grammar-vocabulary syllabus) .3 Approaches to syllabus design. 14 iv LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.4 Steps in syllabus design .2 Goals and objectives setting .3 Content selecting and grading .2 An overview of the TOEIC test.
21 CHAPTER 2: THE METHODOLOGY .1 An introduction of TiengAnh.vn and the grammar-vocabulary course.2 The current grammar-vocabulary syllabus .3 The target learners .4 The teaching staff .2 Data collection instruments .3 Data collection procedure. 26 CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND SUGGESTIONS .1 The occurrence frequencies of grammatical points in 10 TOEIC tests27 3.2 The occurrence frequencies of some vocabulary topics in 10 TOEIC tests.3 Teachers‟ opinions about the proposed syllabus .2 Findings and suggestions .38 v LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.3 A proposed grammar-vocabulary syllabus .1 Goals and objectives of the syllabus .1 Goals of the syllabus .2 Objectives of the syllabus .1 Grammatical points in the syllabus .2 Vocabulary topics in the syllabus .3 Organization and duration of the syllabus .4 A proposed grammar-vocabulary syllabus. 40 PART III: CONCLUSION. Summary of the findings and suggestions.
Limitations of the study. Suggestions for further study. VII vi LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LISTS OF ABBREVIATIONS TOEIC: Test of English for International Communication COBUILD: Collins Birmingham University International Language Database ETS: Educational Testing Service Qs: Questions GP: Grammatical point vii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com LISTS OF FIGURES, CHARTS AND TABLES Figure 1. Classification of syllabuses (Nunan, 1988)…………………………………8 Figure 2.
An overview of the TOEIC test format………………………………. List of grammatical points collected from 5 TOEIC books…………. List of vocabulary topics chosen from 2 TOEIC books………………. The occurrence frequencies of 18 vocabulary topics in 10 TOEIC tests.
The occurrence frequencies of grammar points in tests 1&2…………. The occurrence frequencies of grammar points in tests 3&4…………. The occurrence frequencies of grammar points in tests 5&6…………. The occurrence frequencies of grammar points in tests 7&8………….
The occurrence frequencies of grammar points in tests 9&10……….30 viii LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail. INTRODUCTION The Introduction sets the rationale for the study, as well as the aims, the scope and significance, the methods, and the design of the whole paper. This part also raises the research questions that are set out to work as the guidelines for the whole research. Rationale for the study For the last few decades, together with Vietnam‟s international economic integration, English has become the foreign language used widely in enterprises, organizations, hotels, restaurants., and also a compulsory subject at most schools in our country.
People learn English for a number of purposes: to communicate with foreigners, to read materials or documents in English to support their jobs, to enlarge their knowledge of the world, to pass exams at schools, and to get certificates of proficiency in international English language tests. To keep up with that trend, over the past few years, the Ministry of Education and Training has paid more attention to teaching and learning foreign languages, especially English than ever before. It is stated in the project entitled “Teaching and Learning Foreign Languages in the National Education System, period 2008 – 2020”, which can be known as “National Foreign Languages Project 2020”. According to this project, most Vietnamese students graduating from vocational schools, colleges and universities must have capability of using a foreign language, especially English, confidently in communicating, studying and working in an environment of integration by the year 2020.
(Decision No 1400/QĐ – TTg approved by the Prime Minister on 30/9/2008) In reality, many English language learners in Vietnam, especially students at vocational schools, colleges and universities, as well as employees in enterprises and organizations are now requested to possess certificates of proficiency in English. Among many types of certificates of proficiency in English such as IELTS, TOEFL, TOEIC, SAT, GRE, etc; TOEIC, which stands for Test of English for 1 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com International Communication, is considered the most popular certificate that many schools, enterprises and organizations demand their students or employees to achieve. The TOEIC test was developed by Educational Testing Service (ETS) in 1979 at the request of the Ministry of International Trade and Industry in Japan. It is the worldwide standardized test of workplace English proficiency for non-native English speakers.
With its widest score range from 10 to 990, TOEIC can measure all English levels from beginning to advanced which is proper for all working positions, from basic jobs to management; thus this is the preferred English language assessment tool to measure the progress of learners and help them to achieve their set-goals in their careers. For the time being, the TOEIC test is becoming more and more popular in South East Asia. Each year, businessmen spend thousands of dollars preparing for the TOEIC test in the hope of achieving more than 900 points, because they consider this as a key to success in the international business environment. Consequently, studying and preparing for the TOEIC test is a growing trend for students and employees in South East Asia countries.
Like many other international standardized tests, the TOEIC test covers all four skills: listening, reading, speaking, and writing. It is divided into three tests. The TOEIC Listening and Reading test is a paper-based one that provides an accurate measurement of the English capabilities of non-native speakers in listening, reading, and grammar. The TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests are internet-based tests that measure a person‟s ability to speak and write in English in the workplace, using key expressions and common, everyday vocabulary.
However, in Vietnam, the TOEIC Listening and Reading test, which can be known as the traditional one, is more popular than the TOEIC Speaking and Writing tests. According to IIG Vietnam, the ETS‟s officially authorized country representative in Vietnam, the TOEIC Listening and Reading test-score is being used as the benchmark for graduation at more than 127 universities, colleges, vocational schools, as well as a human resources evaluation tool in more than 350 enterprises. 2 LUAN VAN CHAT LUONG download : add luanvanchat@agmail.com To keep up with the needs of English learners who desire to acquire high scores in the TOEIC test, the English centre TiengAnh.vn continually organizes offline classes to equip learners with necessary knowledge before taking the real TOEIC test. There is a grammar-vocabulary course which was constructed as the foundation for the learners before they enter the TOEIC preparation course.
As a teacher of English in this centre, the researcher is responsible for teaching both the grammar-vocabulary course and the TOEIC preparation course. She is also in charge of designing syllabuses for these courses. However, she herself finds that the current grammar-vocabulary syllabus does not really fit the requirements of the TOEIC test in terms of grammar and vocabulary.