Đánh giá giáo trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành đang được sử dụng cho sinh viên trường Cao đẳng y tế Hà Tĩnh

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES






LƯU NHƯ QUỲNH



AN IN-USE EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK
FOR HA TINH MEDICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS
ACCORDING TO THE LEARNING-CENTRED APPROACH

(ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGHÀNH ĐANG
ĐƯỢC SỬ DỤNG CHO SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y
TẾ HÀ TĨNH THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG LẤY HOẠT ĐỘNG
HỌC LÀM TRUNG TÂM)



PROGRAM I
M.A.MINOR THESIS

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10




HANOI, 2012




VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST- GRADUATE STUDIES





LƯU NHƯ QUỲNH



AN IN-USE EVALUATION OF THE ESP COURSEBOOK
FOR HA TINH MEDICAL COLLEGE STUDENTS
ACCORDING TO THE LEARNING-CENTRED APPROACH

(ĐÁNH GIÁ GIÁO TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGHÀNH ĐANG
ĐƯỢC SỬ DỤNG CHO SINH VIÊN TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG Y
TẾ HÀ TĨNH THEO ĐƯỜNG HƯỚNG LẤY HOẠT ĐỘNG
HỌC LÀM TRUNG TÂM)



PROGRAM I
M.A.MINOR THESIS



Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Trần Hiền Lan, M.A.




HANOI, 2012
iv


TABLE OF CONTENTS
Certificate of originality of the thesis i
Acknowledgements ii
Abstract iii
Table of contents iv
List of abbreviations vii
List of figures, tables and charts viii

PART I: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale 1
2. Aims of the study 1
3. Significance of the study 2
4. Scope of the study 2
5. Design of the study 2
PART II: DEVELOPMENT 4
Chapter 1: Literature Review 4
2.1. An overview of ESP 4
2.1.1. Definition of ESP 4
2.1.2. Characteristics of ESP course 5
2.1.3. English for Medical Purpose (EMP)…… …… 5
2.1.4. Learning-centred approach in ESP 6
2.2. Roles of using the coursebook in Language Teaching and Learning 7
2.3. Material evaluation 9
2.3.1. Definition of material 9
2.3.2. Definition of material evaluation 9
2.3.3. Types of material evaluation 9
2.3.4. Purposes of material evaluation 10
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2.3.5. Models for material evaluation 11
2.3.6. Methods of material evaluation 13
2.3.7. Criteria for material evaluation 13
2.4. Material Adaptation 14
2.5. Summary 15
Chapter 2: Research Methodology 16
2.1. An overview of current ESP Teaching and Learning at HTMC 16

2.1.1. The context 16
2.1.2. The ESP course objectives 16
2.1.3. The material description 17
2.2. Research Methods 17
2.2.1. Research Questions 17
2.2.2. Participants 17
2.2.3. Instrument 18
2.2.4. Data collection procedures 18
2.2.5. Data analysis procedures 18
2.3. Summary 18
Chapter 3: Data Analysis And Dicussion 19
3.1. The teachers’ evaluation on the ESP coursebook 19
3.1.1. The aims 19
3.1.2. The content 19
3.1.3. The Methodology 22
3.1.4. General evaluation 23
3.2. The students’ evaluation on the ESP coursebook 24
3.2.1. The students’ need of learning ESP 25
3.2.2. The aims 26
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3.2.3. The Content 27
3.2.4. The Methodology 32
3.2.5. General evaluation 33
3.3. Findings 34
3.3.1. The suitability and unsuitability of the ESP coursebook to the aims 34
3.3.2. The suitability and unsuitability of the ESP coursebook related to the content
requirement 34
3.3.3. The suitability and unsuitability of the coursebook related to the learning-centred

methodology 35
3.4. Recommendations 35
3.4.1. Content improvements 35
3.4.2. Methodology improvements 37
PART III: CONCLUSION 38
1. Conclusion 38
2. Limitation and suggestions for further research 38
References 39
Appendixes I
Appendix 1 I
Appendix 2 IV








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1. Rationale
English language teaching coursebooks in general and ESP ones in particular are
considered as one of the most important elements in any educational system. Appropriate
materials are thought to stimulate effective teaching and learning. Because of their role and
contribution to second language acquisition, material evaluation has become a major
concern of several researchers. Cunningsworth (1995) and Ellis (1997) have suggested that
coursebook evaluation helps teachers move beyond impressionistic assessments and help
them to acquire useful, systematic and contextual insights into the overall nature of the

material.
The ESP coursebook for the students at Ha Tinh Medical College (HTMC) is a
self-edited collection extracted from various sources. It has been used at HMC for five
years. During teaching and learning process, the ESP coursebook has had certain positive
impacts on ESP development here. However, there are still some complaints and
dissatisfaction about it. Until now, no evaluation or consultation has been conducted to
determine its weaknesses and its strengths. The aim of the ESP coursebook at HTMC is, by
the end of the course, at enabling students to describe a number of diseases, their causes,
indications and treatment, to acquire and improve their reading skills to read easy medical
documents later. The coursebook has not paid attention to developing learners‟
communication ability which is very necessary when learning a foreign language
nowadays.
The above is the reason why I should carry out this research: to evaluate the
current ESP coursebook at HTMC according to the learning-centred approach in order to
design an effective ESP material later. What distinguishes ESP from General English is not
the existence of a need as such but rather awareness of the need. It means that ESP is an
approach to language teaching which aims to meet the needs of particular learners. Thus
the purpose of this evaluation is to examine how well the ESP coursebook is used and if it
can meet the course requirements in terms of aims, content and methodology.
2. Aims of the study
- To evaluate the ESP coursebook in terms of its Aims, Content and Methodology
from the point of view of both the teachers and students.
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- Suggest some improvements to make the ESP coursebook more effective in
responding to the course requiremens and learners‟ needs.
3. Significance of the study
The study is hoped to be useful to both the teachers and the students at HTMC.
Firstly, it provides a foundation toward improving the quality of the currently used ESP

coursebook for the students at HTMC in order to make the course more relevant to the
learners‟ need. Secondly, it helps the teachers get the learners‟ feedback to adapt the
material or adjust their ways of teaching to meet the learners‟ expectations better. Finally,
the results of this research are hoped to make several contributions to material evaluation
field.
4. Scope of the study
Due to the limited scope of a minor thesis, although there is a great number of
book evaluation criteria, this study only evaluate the ESP coursebook for the students at
HTMC in relation to its aims, content and methodology.
Basing on the findings and the learners‟ need, it provides some suggestions to
improve the ESP coursebook at HTMC.
5. Design of the study
The study consists of three main parts: introduction, development and conclusion.
The introduction provides the rationale, the aims, the research question, the
significance, the scope and the design of the study.
The development includes three chapters:






PART II: DEVELOPMENT
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Chapter 1: Literature Review
2.1. An overview of ESP
2.1.1. Definition of ESP
ESP has been defined by different researchers as well as scholars‟ different

views.
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:19), ESP must be seen as an
approach not as a product what Dudley-Evans (1998) describes as an “attitude of mind” .
They states that “ ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to
content and method are based on the learner‟s reason for learning”. They also emphasize
that “ The foundation of all ESP is the simple question: Why does this learner need to learn
a foreign language?”
2.1.2. Characteristics of ESP course
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), the traditional ESP course design
has two major drawbacks: firstly, the development in the learner of a capacity to
communicate is neglected, and secondly, there is a failure to analyze and take into account
the realities of the ESP learning situation.
Tickoo (1988) states that there are three features of ESP courses including
authentic material, purpose-related orientation and self-direction. The use of learning
authentic material is entirely feasible and can be modified or unmodified in form, which is
indeed a feature of ESP. Additionally, purpose-related orientation refers to the simulation
of communicative tasks required of the target setting involving the preparation of papers,
reading, note taking and writing. Finally, self-direction is the characteristic of ESP courses
in that the “…point of including self-direction…is that ESP is concerned with turning
learners into users”.
2.1.3. English for Medical Purpose (EMP)
English for Medical Purpose is a subset of English for Specific Purposes
education that most often focuses on teaching aspects of medical English, particularly
terminology. Hull (2004)
Hull also points out the characteristics of Medical English. Generally, English for
Specific Purposes materials and courses are designed for adult learners who desire or need
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to learn a second/foreign language for use in their specific fields, (i.e. science, technology,

health care/medicine, and academics). ESP assumes that the target group has a degree of
language competency in their first language as well as in English. English for Medical
Purposes is even more specific. It is fraught with technical, academic language and replete
with slang, colloquialisms, abbreviations and acronyms. It has its own rules and structure.
Health professionals must read, write, interpret, give directions, etcetera using a wide
variety of abbreviations and acronyms that are extremely career-specific. Medical English
is also contextual. Doctors and nurses use academic and technical language interspersed
with common speech and workplace jargon. It rarely focuses on complete or proper
sentence structure.
2.1.4. Learning-centred approach in ESP
The approach to ESP developed by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) is the
learning-centred approach which is concerned with language learning. In other words, the
concern of ESP is not “what people learn”, but “how people learn”. ESP is an approach to
language learning with the aims to meet the needs of particular learners. As a result, a
learning-centred approach has a very important role in course design. Therefore, in order to
determine whether the course book is effective, it is necessary to evaluate it according to
the learning-centred approach.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) also states that “ a truly valid approach to ESP
must be based on an understanding of the processes of language learning”. The learning-
centred approach is based on the assumption that describing and exemplifying what
learners do with language is important as this will help to define the course objectives. It
means that telling the learners what to do with language alone will not enable them to learn
it , it must be combined with language learning or telling the learner how to learn it,
because the ultimate goal of language education is to develop learner autonomy. Learners
should be equipped with learning strategies for life-long learning.
The learning-centred approach is based on the principle that learning is totally
determined by the learners. Learning is seen as a process in which the learners use what
knowledge or skills they have in order to make sense of the flow of new information.
2.2. Roles of using the coursebook in Language Teaching and Learning
5

Using the coursebook in Language Teaching and Learning has both advantages
and disadvantages.
Grant (1987) mentions that the coursebooks help to solve the problem by creating
opportunities for the learners to use the target language in the classroom before using it in
their real life. Because of this possible vitality, Ur (1996) states the advantages of the
coursebook as follows:
a. They provide a clear framework which the teacher and the students know
where they are going and what is coming next
b. Mostly, they serve as a syllabus which includes a carefully planned and
balanced selection of language content if it is followed systematically
c. They provide ready-made texts and tasks with possible appropriate level for
most of the class, which save time for the teacher
d. They are the cheapest way of providing learning material for each student
e. They are convenient packages whose components are bound in order
f. They are useful guides especially for inexperienced teachers who are
occasionally unsure of their language knowledge
g. They provide autonomy that the students can use them to learn new material,
review and monitor progress in order to be less teacher-dependent.
Besides, coursebooks as preplanned teaching materials have some possible
disadvantages (Richards and Renandya, 2002):
a. They fail to present appropriate and realistic language models
b. They propose subordinate learner roles
c. They fail to contextualize language activities
d. They foster inadequate cultural understanding
e. They fail to address discourse competence
f. They fail to teach idiom
g. They have lack of equity in gender representation
2.3. Material evaluation

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2.3.1. Definition of material
Tomlinson, B (1998) constructs a quite comprehensive definition of material:
“Materials are anything which is used to help to teach language learners. Materials can be
in the form of a textbook, a workbook, a cassette, a CD-Rom, a video, a photocopied
handout, a newspapers, a paragraph written on a whiteboard: anything which presents or
informs about the language being learned”.
2.3.2. Definition of material evaluation
There are several ways of defining material evaluation.
According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), “Evaluation is basically a matching
process: matching needs to available solutions” (p.97). Evaluation is a matter of judging
the fitness of something for a particular purpose. “Given a certain need, and in the light of
the resources available, which out of number of possibilities can represent the best
solution. There is no absolute goog or bad-only degrees of fitness for the required purpose”
Dudley (1998) states that, “Evaluation is a whole process which begins with
determining what information to gather and ends with bringing about the change in current
activities or influencing future ones” (p.128)
2.3.3. Types of material evaluation
According to Cunningsworth (1995), there are three types of material evaluation
including pre-use evaluation, in-use evaluation and post-use evaluation. This classification
is similar to Ellis (1997) with different names. He divides material evaluation into three
types: Preliminary, Formative and Summative evaluation.
Pre-use evaluation is often carried out before the course starts with the aim to
select the most appropriate materials for the particular group of learners and for the aims of
the course.
In-use evaluation often takes place during the learning process, involving
“matching the course book against a specific requirement including the learners‟
objectives, the learners‟ background, the resources available, etc” (Cunningsworth,

1995,p.14). The results of this stage can be used to modify what is being done or in other
words, such results may suggest the development of the material in the future.
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Post-use evaluation is often undertaken after the course has been finished to judge
its overall effectiveness. The findings of this evaluation will lead to the decision whether to
repeat or use the materials again or not.
2.3.4. Purposes of material evaluation
Evaluation have many different purposes.
Cunningsworth (1995) states that when conducting an evaluation we can assess
whether the course is the most appropriate for the target learners at different levels and in
different teaching settings.
According to Robinson (1991), through evaluation, we can know about the
advantages and disadvantages as well as the effectiveness of the being used materials.
2.3.5. Models for material evaluation
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) divide the material process into four main steps
which can be presented in the following model. It is a macro-evaluation.











Figure 2: Materials Evaluation Process ( Hutchinson and Water 1987, P.98)

Ellis (1997) suggests a Micro-evaluation model which is probably clearer and
more detailed:
1. Choosing a task to follow;
DEFINING CRITERIA
On what bases will you judge
material?
Which criteria will be more
important?
SUBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
What realizations of the criteria do
you want in your course?
OBJECTIVE ANALYSIS
How does the material being evaluated
realize the criteria?
MATCHING
How far does the material match your
needs?
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2. Describing the task with specification of input, procedures, language activities,
and outcome;
3. Planning the evaluation with reference to dimensions above
4. Collecting information before, while and after the task was used, and what and
how the task was performed;
5. Analysis of the information collected;
6. Findings of the evaluation and making recommendations for future teaching;
7. Writing the report
2.3.6. Methods of material evaluation
According to McGrath (2002), there are three methods of evaluation includings:

the impressionistic method, the checklist method and the in-depth method.
The impressionistic method is used to gain a general impression of the material.
This method consists of glancing at the publsher‟s description on the back cover, the
content page, book lay out and visual.
The checklist method is used to compare, identify or verify by a list of items.
The in-depth method considers the kind of language description, underlying
assumptions about learning or values on which the material are based. It focus on specific
feature (Cunningworth, 1995), close analysis of one or more extracts (Hutchinson, 1987).
2.3.7. Criteria for material evaluation
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) present four main criteria for material evaluation
including: the audience, the aims, the content and the methodology.
- The audience of the materials: the evaluator should obtain information about
and from learners to find out whether the materials are suitable to the students‟ age,
knowledge of English, interest and so on.
- Aims of the materials: the evaluator has to check if the materials match the aims
and objectives of the course.
- Content of the materials: the evaluator has to check if the materials‟ language
points, macro-skills/micro-skills, and topics suit the learners‟ needs.
9


-Methodology of the materials: the evaluator has to find out if techniques, aids,
guidance provided in the materials satisfy the learners and the teachers of the course.
2.4. Material Adaptation
There are various ways to adapt material. Tomlinson, B (1998:281) suggests a
number of available options:
 Omission: the teacher leaves out things deemed inappropriate, offensive,
and unproductive…for the particular group.
 Addition: where there seems to be inadequate coverage, the teachers may
decide to add material, either in the form of texts or exercise material

 Reduction: where the teacher shortens an activity to give it less weight or
emphasis
 Extension: where an activity is lengthened in order to give an additional
dimension.
 Rewriting/modification: teachers may occasionally decide to rewrite
material, especially exercise material, to make it more appropriate, more „communicative‟,
more demanding, more accessible to their students.
 Replacement: texts or exercise material which is considered inadequate for
whatever reason may be replaced by more suitable material.
 Re-ordering: teachers may decide that the order in which the materials are
presented is not suitable for their students.
2.5. Summary
This chapter has provided a brief literature review on material evaluation. It can
be seen as the theoretical foundation for the applications for this study and the
improvements that should be made to the ESP course book for the students at HTMC. It
includes three sections.



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Chapter 2: Research Methodology
2.1. An overview of current ESP Teaching and Learning at HTMC.
2.1.1. The context
At HTMC, the numbers of teachers are limited and none of them are in charge of
ESP teaching separately. There are only three teachers of English. Therefore they have to
face many difficulties when teaching ESP.
Besides that, the students at HTMC come from different parts of Ha Tinh
province. Many of them are from the rural or remote areas so they do not have

opportunities for studying English. At Hatinh Medical College, English is a compulsory
subject. An English course is divided into two parts: General English (GE) and English for
specific purposes (ESP).
A course in English at HTMC lasts 2 years. In the first year, they learn General
English from the coursebook entitled Lifeline Elementary published by Oxford University
Press in 1993. In the second year, they learn English for medicine (60 periods).
2.1.2. The ESP course objectives
The main objective of the course is set out by the Basic Science Department of
HTMC as follows:
By the end of the ESP course, the students will be able to:
 Describe a number of diseases, their causes, indications and treatment in
English.
 Read easy English medical documents.
2.1.3. The material description.
Let‟s Examine is a 42-page-long coursebook collected and edited by the teachers
of English from HTMC. It has 15 units including 15 reading texts and exercises. In each
the reading text, there are pictures or charts to illustrate the target content. But they are not
really clear. Besides, the book does not provide any supplementary materials such as
cassettes or CDs, students‟ workbook or teachers‟ manual.
2.2. Research Methods
2.2.1. Research Questions
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Based on the aim of the study, the following questions are addressed in this study:
1) To what extent does the ESP coursebook at HTMC meet the requirements of
the course and the learners‟ need in terms of aims, content and methodology?
2) What improvements should be made to the ESP coursebook to meet the
requirements of the course and learners‟ need?
2.2.2. Participants

The teachers‟ respondent in this study included three English teachers. They had
the bachelor degrees.
100 students who took part in the study were the second-year students at HTMC.
They were 73 females and only 27 males. 51 students were studying Nursery major and the
rest was studying Diagnostic Imaging.
2.2.3. Instrument
In order to carry out the research, the survey questionnaire was used as an
instrument to collect the data. There were the questionnaire for the teachers and the
questionnaire for the students.
2.2.4. Data collection procedures
Data collection was conducted via questionnaires for both the teachers and the
students. Firstly, the questionnaires were distributed among the English teachers
individually. They were given three days to complete and return the questionnaires to
ensure that they had enough time to give their answers. Differently, the students were
asked to complete the questionnaires while they were in their classroom.
2.2.5. Data analysis procedures
After having collected data, the researchers analyzed, synthesized and categorized
the answers in suitable tables. The result in this research was reported with the descriptive
statistic tool.
2.3. Summary
This chapter has provided an overview of current ESP teaching and learning at
HTMC, mainly focusing on the material description

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Chapter 3: Data Analysis And Dicussion
3.1. The teachers’ evaluation on the ESP coursebook.
3.1.1. The aims
According to the teacher survey results, all of them agreed that the aim of

teaching ESP is that, by the end of the ESP course their students would be able to describe
a number of diseases, their causes, indication and treatment.
3.1.2. The content
100% the teachers accounting believed that the ESP coursebook provided
students with useful topics, which were about the popular and basic issues in medicine. All
the teachers agreed that the topics which were relevant to their students‟ need but were not
up-to-date. The material was not edited every year. As a result, these topics did not help
improve students‟ background knowledge of current issues so they reduced students‟
interest and motivation in learning ESP.
The reading texts in the ESP coursebook were mainly descriptions. The majority
of the teachers stated that the length of the ESP reading texts was suitable for students‟
agree. Within two periods (90 minutes), these students could read and translate the reading
texts into Vietnamese. On the contrast, one of these teachers said that the reading texts
were short and did not meet the students‟ need.
When the number of the ESP vocabulary in every unit were taken into
consideration, the teachers stated that the number of the ESP vocabulary in every unit was
a lot. It was not suitable for the students of different level. In addition, ESP vocabulary was
not reviewed for reinforcement.
In terms of grammar, the teachers thought that it was easy and only one of them
said that it was adequate. In fact, it was very difficult to evaluate the grammar in the ESP
coursebook because it was not separated in a private section. Generally, the grammar was
not emphasized in this material. The teachers only repeated the grammar issues including
form and usage when they appeared in the ESP reading texts and there were not the
grammar exercise for the students to practice.
When the methodology was taken into consideration 100% teachers stated that
the methodology in the ESP coursebook is learning-centred. It means that Learning was
13


totally determined by the learners. They used what knowledge or skills they have acquired

in order to understand the new information.
Concerning the issue of whether or not the ESP coursebook provided
communicative activities that helped the students carry out them in their real life. All the
teachers disagreed with the statement. The exercises and the activities in the material did
not provide the students with the opportunity to communicate in real life and work with
each other in pairwork or groupwork.
To improve the material, these teachers gave some opinions for adjustments of
this coursebook. For them, the current ESP coursebook should offer them more kinds of
tasks to practice four language skills. And it was necessary to have more pictures and
examples. They also mentioned that a workbook and a teacher‟s manual book with
teaching hints as well as progress tests designed periodically for the students should be
included.
3.2. The students’ evaluation on the ESP coursebook.
When being asked about the need of learning ESP, 66% students said that they
liked learning ESP because it would be useful for their job in the future. The rest did not
like learning this subject because it was too difficult compared with their current English
level or the teaching method was still boring.
The length of the reading texts in the ESP coursebook was evaluated to be
adequate (53%). 23% students thought that the reading texts were long and only 14%
students found them too long. Additionally, the rest of the students (10%) said that the
length of the ESP reading texts was still short; they need the longer reading texts in order
to be suitable with their degree. From the result we can see that the length of the reading
texts in ESP coursebook met the need of the students.
Answering the last question, 61% students said that they would choose to learn
this ESP coursebook again. 30% of them gave the opposite idea. Surprisingly, there were 9
students who did not have the answer for this question.
3.3. Findings
3.3.1. The suitability and unsuitability of the ESP coursebook to the aims
14

According to the survey results and compared to the aims of the course, which
was set out by the Basic Science Department of HTMC, we can see that the students had
more aims than the aims of the ESP course.
3.3.2. The suitability and unsuitability of the ESP coursebook related to the content
requirement
A good point of the content in this material is the learners‟ and teachers‟
satisfaction with the topics in the reading texts. Most of the topics were useful and could
encourage the students to express their own views. Moreover, some topics such as
“general condition of health”,” the eyes”,” tetanus”,”malnutrition” allowed critical
thinking in them which motivated them to learn ESP more. When the length of the reading
text was taken into consideration, both the teachers and the students had the same idea that
it was suitable for the students‟ level. In addition, the tasks were useful and every task had
clear instructions for it. For these criterial, the content of the ESP coursebook met the
requirements of the course and the learners‟ need in some aspects.
However, the result of the survey indicates that the content of the ESP
coursebook still had some weaknesses. The topics were not up dated, which caused de-
motivation in the students. The number of the vocabulary available in every unit was not
sufficient enough for them. Moreover, the material did not focus on developing all the
skills. It only paid more attention to the reading skill. As a result, this unsuitability could
not be well met the learners‟ need and it should be improved.
3.3.3. The suitability and unsuitability of the coursebook related to the learning-centred
methodology
As far as the methodology is concerned, both the teachers and the students had
the same opinions. The methodology in the ESP coursebook was learning-centred. The
material also provided the students with the opportunity to do tasks with each other in
pairwork and groupwork. Moreover, the ESP language was presented in the contexts.
However, the coursebook did not allow various class activities. And the ESP
coursebook did not provide communicative activities that help the students carry out their
communicative act in their real life.

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In view of methodology, the ESP coursebook met the course requirement and the
learners‟ need. There are some improvements in order to develop the students‟
communicative abilities.
3.4. Recommendations
3.4.1. Content improvements
From the data analysis, we can see that the development of all the four language
skills is extremely essential for the students at HTMC. Therefore, the ESP coursebook
should provide a balance of them. The material should add the listening skill tasks which
are not available in the current ESP coursebook. Moreover, the material should have the
separated sections for vocabulary, grammar, pronunciation and four skills.
More exercises should be added into the material so that the students would have
chances to practice and improve their ability. It is also necessary to add more communicate
exercises and activities such as group and pair work and role play as these can help
students carry out their communicative tasks.
The topics in the ESP coursebook could be various but should contain updated
information. In addition, topics that can provoke students‟ crictical thinking, encourage
them to generate their ideas and make their own judgments on theirs‟ opinions should be
added on the ESP coursebook.
If the reading texts in the material are arranged in the degrees of difficulties in
terms of language, it will be easier for the students to learn ESP. Besides, each text has a
different topic, therefore, when learning a new text, the students must learn words which
are completely different and new for them. Moreover, they do not have chance to practice
what they have learnt. Therefore, the reading texts should provide vocabulary gradually
which is relevant to each other in terms of the topics.
The current ESP coursebook is being used for all the students at the college
degree at HTMC. As a result, the content is not specific.
Finally, the ESP coursebook should include a variety of attractive pictures and

interesting activities which will stimulate students‟ motivation and creativity.
3.4.2. Methodology improvements
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Teachers should apply learning-centred approach more in the ESP class so that
they can engage students in learning ESP affectively. Learning-centred approach that can
allow various activities are highly recommended.
The teachers should try to speak as much English as possible during ESP classes
in order to create a language environment for their students to develop their speaking and
listening skills.
The teachers should recommend their students what the materials they should
read and how they can read them effectively.

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PART III: CONCLUSION
1. Conclusion
The use of ESP coursebook is more popular nowadays. Therefore, material
evaluation also becomes a very important process in ESP teaching and learning. The
results from material evaluation can help the teachers to determine the strengths and
weaknesses of the material. From that, the recommendations are suggested to improve the
material.
The ESP coursebook for the students at Ha Tinh Medical College has been
evaluated from the point of view of both the teachers and the students in terms of the aim,
the content and the method. Based on the survey results in the previous chapter, the
following conclusions are drawn:
- The ESP coursebook has met the requirements of the course and the learners‟
need in the sense that it provides the students with the reading skills, ESP vocabulary and
the tasks. However, the material has not fully responded to the course requirements and the
students‟ aim in terms of writing, speaking and listening skills and failed to meet the
students‟ aim at being able to communicate in English after finishing the ESP course.
Besides, translation should be developed because this is the most type of exercise
evaluated by the students.
- Basing on the findings, the researcher has suggested some improvements with
the hope that they may help improve the ESP coursebook for the students at HTMC in the
coming years to meet more the requirements of the course and the learners‟ needs.
2. Limitation and suggestions for further research
Like the other studies, this study has its own limitations due to the limited time
and scope. The greatest limitation is that the questionnaire has been used as the only
instrument to collect data. It means that the researcher has not been able to investigate the

evaluation of the teachers and the students on current ESP coursebook in all aspects.
Various instruments will be used in the next study to explore more the target issue.
The number of English teachers involved in the survey was limited. There were
only three teachers. Therefore, the result can not be quite reliable. This is also the
limitation of this study.
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