HoChiMinh City-National University University of Social Sciences and Humanities ****** SÖÛ THÒ AÙI MYÕ A Thesis in Master’s Programs Major: TESOL Code number: 5.02 Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Master of TESOL SUPERVISOR: NGUYEÃN VAÊN MÖÔØI, Ph. HoChiMinh City - 2005 - CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I hereby certify my authorship of the thesis submitted today entitled: “THE APPLICATION OF TECHNOLOGY IN TEACHING TECHNICAL ENGLISH” In terms of the Statement of Requirements for the Thesis in Master’s Programs Issued by the Higher Degree Committee HoChiMinh City, October 15th, 2005 Söû Thò AÙi Myõ - i- RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I, hereby state that I, Su Thi Ai My, 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 Thesis 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 the purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the library for care, loan and reproduction of thesis. Ho Chi Minh City, October 15th, 2005 Söû Thò AÙi Myõ - ii- ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS First of all, I should like to express my deepest gratitude to my course lecturer and supervisor, Dr.
Nguyen Van Muoi, who spent a lot of time reading my draft with great care and giving me valuable advice and guided me to complete my thesis. I should also like to express my special thanks to the librarians working at the University of Technical Education (UTE) and the University of Social Sciences and Humanities who helped me a lot during my search for reference materials. I am greatly indebted to all the teachers who were willing to participate in the questionnaire and give me thoughtful advice and experience and the teaching staff of Division of Foreign Language at the UTE who shared my division’s duties to release me more time to fulfil my thesis. I took this chance to express my thankfulness to my students for their cooperation in filling in the questionnaires and taking part in the experiment.
Finally, my special thanks go to my friends for encouraging and supporting me throughout the completion of this Research Paper. - iii- ABSTRACT A persistent problem facing English teachers at the University of Technical Education (UTE) is the attempt to stimulate and maintain students’ interest in learning English for the specific purposes and to enhance learning and teaching. The increasingly and drastically impacts of new technology generated an idea of application of technology in teaching. The present research aims at investigating: 1) the available technology support tools that can be used to facilitate teachers and students; 2) whether and how technology may enhance teaching and learning technical English; 3) whether or not technology can stimulate and maintain students’ interest in learning technical English; 4) teachers’ and learners’ attitude towards instructional technology including computers and other media.
35 second-year students belonging to the electronic and electrical faculty of the UTE participated in an experimental course in which technology was highly applied. Data were collected by direct observation, background and attitude questionnaires administered to students at the UTE to identify their attitude and perception towards learning technical English, and learning English with technology. An additional questionnaire was also delivered in the meantime to request for teachers opinion on using technology in teaching as well as their experience in teaching ESP. The findings were consistent with those from prior researches about the enhancement of technology in teaching.
Although there are barriers to the use of technology, the findings of the research showed that it was worth trying. Most of the students participating in the experiment showed their positive attitude towards the course. The limitations of small samples and of anonymous questionnaire led to recommendations for further researches to assess students’ progress and viability of instructional software in teaching ESP. - iv- LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS CMC Computer-mediated communication EFL English as a Foreign Language ESL English as a Second Language ESP English for Specific Purposes EST English for Science and Technology IT Instructional Technology LAN Local Area Network TESOL Teaching English to Speaker of Other Languages USSH University of Social Sciences and Humanities UTE University of Technical Education - v- LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1.
Relationship among learner, teacher, instruction and learning .1 Relationship of media and teaching .3 A positive learning cycle by Hutchison and Walters .4 Technology integration checklist for teachers (modified) .1 A possible schematic of the electronic classroom .1 Ownership of home computer .2 Most frequent location where students use computers .3 Average number of hours spent on computers .4 Prior experience in using computer to learn English .5 Prior experience with technology-based classrooms .6 Prior experience in learning English through special websites.7 Necessity of technical English.8 Students’ first priority in studying English.9 Error correction preference .10 Difficulties in learning .11 Students’ evaluation of the course .12 Perceptions of teaching method used .14 Preference in Vocabulary learning .15 Teaching aids used .16 Effectiveness of the course .17 Teachers’ perceptions of using instructional technology .18 Four-stroke engine .19 Example of useful websites. 90 - vi- LIST OF TABLES Table 4.1 Scores in the last achievement test of English .1 Students’ expectation towards ESP course .2 Preference in reading styles.3 Error correction preference .4 Students’ self assessment of progress.5 Difficulties encountered during the program.6 Description of teachers’ experience .7 Frequently performed activities .8 Vocabulary introducing techniques .9 Evaluation of the method.11 Teachers’ familiarity with computers .12 Number of hours spent on computers .13 Teachers’ barriers to the use of technology. 73 - vii- CONTENTS Certificate of originality. i Retention and use of the thesis.iv List of abbreviations.
v List of figures.vi List of tables. viii CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1-7 1.4 Definitions and scopes. 6 CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 18 - 31 2.1 The enhancement of new technologies in teaching and learning .1 The case for motivation and individualization.2 Authentic material for study.3 Students’ attitude and reaction.2 Unique instruction capabilities.3 Using technology support tools .1 Using multimedia and hypermedia .2 Using software tools in teaching and learning.3 Using internet and internet related tools.4 The theoretical base of technical English .1 Definition of technical English related to ESP .2 The role of needs analysis in ESP teaching.3 Principles and techniques of learning and teaching ESP.4 The role of ESP teachers .5 Teacher planning and preparation for technology use. 29 CHAPTER 3: PRACTICAL BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY 32 - 38 3.1 Description of access and content .3 Configurations of technology-based classroom .2 The learners’ profiles.3 The teaching staff.4 The English courses.1 The English syllabus .2 The coursebooks of technical English.
38 CHAPTER 4: DESIGN AND METHODOLOGY 39 - 52 4.1 Participants of the experimental teaching .2 Participants of the additional questionnaire. 4 Procedures and materials .1 Questionnaires to students.2 Questionnaire to teachers .3 Descriptions of teaching method. 52 CHAPTER 5: FINDINGS, DISCUSSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS 53 - 91 5.1 Students’ experience and habits of computers and internet .2 Students’ expectation and attitudes towards the English course .3 Students’ attitudes towards learning with technology.4 Encountered difficulties in learning with technology .5 Teachers’ perceptions on the English courses.6 Teachers’ evaluation of the method and techniques used .7 Teachers’ encountered difficulties.8 Teachers’ familiarity with computers and the internet .9 Barriers to the use of technology in teaching .1 Teachers’ and students’ readiness in using technological resources .2 Students’ needs and problematic areas that have technological solutions .3 Students’ and teachers’ perceptions towards instructional technology. 3 Implications for teaching.1 To the problems that students lose their interests in learning .2 To the question why use instructional technology.3 To the question how to lift the barriers and use technology effectively.
3 Limitations and recommendations. 98 APPENDICES Appendix 1: Questionnaires to students. 99 Appendix 2: Questionnaire to teachers. 101 Appendix 3: Electronics in the home.
103 Appendix 4: Electronic diagrams. 104 Appendix 5: Crossword puzzles. 105 Appendix 6: Electronic diagram A and B. 105 Appendix 7: Matching labels and circuit symbols.
106 Appendix 8: Electric generator. 107 Appendix 9: Component values. 108 Appendix 10: Resistor value quiz. 109 Appendix 11: Achievement test.
110 Appendix 12: Examples of useful websites. 112 Appendix 13: An example of a quiz generator. 113 10 CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION Figure 1. RESEARCH SETTING The advent of technology including computers and other media increasingly and drastically impacts every aspect of society.
The increasing speed and new applications for computers continue to be developed more and more rapidly than we can humanly anticipate. In the early 90's education started being affected by the introduction of word processors in schools, colleges and universities. In the last few years, the number of teachers using computer-assisted language learning technology has increased remarkably and numerous articles have been written about the role of technology in education in the 21st century. Technology is endlessly developed and English become an accepted international language of science and technology, commerce, politics, etc.
A receptive and productive competence in English is indispensable to every student. It is rather important for students to approach the achievement of technology. In the meantime, at many universities including the Universities of Technical Education (UTE), teaching English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has been widespread with obstacles with which teachers are facing and are trying to find creative solutions to their problems as well as their students’. Surveys showed that more and more students lost their interest in learning ESP and absented themselves from participation in class.
The falling rate of students in technical English tests has been also significantly higher than that of general English and much higher than that of other subjects. Undergraduates fail to read specialist books which are only available in English. Graduates are refused by employers due to their inadequate competence in reading manuals of operation, service and maintenance. Is technology a possible solution to the persistent problems? How to employ instructional technology effectively in the specific context of the UTE? There is a paradox that little information is available on the application of technology in teaching and learning ESP, especially technical English.
These aspects of the setting generated the ideas from which this research begins. RESEARCH PURPOSES The overall purpose of the research is to investigate: ¾ the available technology support tools that can be used to facilitate teachers and students; ¾ whether and how technology may enhance teaching and learning technical English at the UTE; ¾ whether or not technology can stimulate and maintain students’ interest in learning technical English; ¾ teachers’ and learners’ attitude towards instructional technology including computers and other media. RESEARCH QUESTIONS More specifically, to accomplish the proposed purposes, the research is guided by the following questions: ¾ What are technological support tools available? ¾ Why is technology used in teaching technical English at the UTE? ¾ What can be done with instructional technology? ¾ What are teachers’ and students’ perceptions on the enhancements and hindrances of technology? The results of this study may be useful to ESP teachers in providing them with an alternative to enhance the teaching and learning and to solve the persistent problems. The results of the study will be helpful in facilitating teachers with variety of support tools.
DEFINITIONS AND SCOPES 3. Technology Generally, technology is defined as 1. Scientific study and use of mechanical arts and applied sciences; 8 2. Application of this to practical task”.
(Hornby, 1992) Technology is often thought of as modern machines or tools like computers, multimedia, scanners etc. Indeed, it is important to understand that technology is more than just machines and that the term “technology” is not merely a synonym for “computer”. First, technologies are not only computers but blackboards, pens, pencils sharpeners, rulers and even chalk as well. Second, technology does not merely imply the uses of machines, but refers to as any applications of scientific or other organized knowledge to practical tasks.