Designing an ESP reading syllabus for first-year students of Architecture at Hanoi University of Business and Technology = Thiết kế chương trình đọc hiểu t

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






TRẦN NGUYỆT MINH




DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS
FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE
AT HANOI UNIVESITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY

THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH
CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN THỨ NHẤT KHOA KIẾN TRÚC,
TRƯỜNG ĐH KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI



M.A .MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS




Field: English Teaching Methodology

Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Dr. Ngô Hữu Hoàng





HA NOI – 2013
VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI
UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES
FACULTY OF POST-GRADUATE STUDIES







TRẦN NGUYỆT MINH




DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS
FOR FIRST-YEAR STUDENTS OF ARCHITECTURE
AT HANOI UNIVESITY OF BUSINESS AND TECHNOLOGY

THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC HIỂU TIẾNG ANH
CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH VIÊN THỨ NHẤT KHOA KIẾN TRÚC,
TRƯỜNG ĐH KINH DOANH VÀ CÔNG NGHỆ HÀ NỘI

M.A. MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS



Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60.14.10
Supervisor: Dr. Ngô Hữu Hoàng



HA NOI – 2013
iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
TABLE OF CONTENTS iv
LIST OF TABLES vi
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS vii
PART A INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………… 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Previous related studies 3
3. The aim of the study 4
4. Research questions 4
5. Methodology 4
6. Scope of the study 4

7. Significance of the study 5
8. Organization of the thesis 5
PART B DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………………………6
CHAPTER I THEORETICAL BACKGROUND 6
1.1. English for specific purposes 6
1.2. Reading in ESL/EFL and ESP 7
1.3. Syllabus design 11
1.4. Needs analysis 15
CHAPTER II RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 17
2.1. Research methods 17
2.2. Data collection instruments 17
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2.3. Data collection procedure 21
2.4. Method of data analysis 22
CHAPTER III DATA ANALYSIS 23
3.1. Target needs 23
3.2. Learning needs 29
3.3. Discussion of findings 36
CHAPTER IV THE PROPOSED ESP READING SYLLABUS 39
4.1. Introduction 39
4.2. The goals and objectives of the ESP reading course. 39
4.3. Content selection and gradation 39
4.4. Suggested teaching methodology 41
4.5. Time allotment 42
4.6. A proposed ESP reading syllabus for first-year Architecture students at Hanoi
University of Business and Technology 42
PART C CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………………43
1. Conclusion 43
2. Research limitations and suggestions for further study 44

REFERENCES………………………………………………………………………………I
APPENDICES…………………………………………………………………………….III
APPENDIX 1 FIRST-YEAR STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE III
APPENDIX 2 THIRD-YEAR STUDENT QUESTIONNAIRE VI
APPENDIX 3 ARCHITECT QUESTIONNAIRE VIII
APPENDIX 4 INTERVIEW FOR ESP TEACHERS X
APPENDIX 5 Teachers’ suggested teaching techniques XII
APPENDIX 6 A proposed ESP reading syllabus XIV
vi

LIST OF TABLES

Table 3.1. Architects’ jobs, working places, and frequency of reading 24
Table 3.2. Text genres 25
Table 3.3. Source of materials 25
Table 3.4. First-year students’ expectations towards the ESP reading course 28
Table 3.5. First-year and third students’ purposes of attendance 31
Table 3.6. Word-attack strategies 33
Table 3.7. First-year students’ preferences on topics of reading text 34
Table 3.8. Third-year students’ attitudes towards the current reading syllabus for
first-year students 34
Table 3.9. Third-year students’ suggestions for improving ESP training quality 35

vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS



ELT

English Language Teaching
ESP
English for Specific Purposes
GE, EGP
English for General Purposes
HUBT
Hanoi University of Business and Technology
L2

Second language/foreign language
1

PART A
INTRODUCTION

1. Rationale of the study
Globalization has made English an international language of communication that is
used by an increasing number of people from a wide range of occupational contexts.
Reading in English is particularly an essential skill for Vietnamese architects since a
large number of high-quality specialist materials such as books and periodicals are
written in this language. Therefore, it is no doubt that ESP reading instruction of
would-be professionals at the tertiary level is of great importance.
Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT) is a private university
founded in 1996. From the first days of establishment, the Management Board has
given a top priority to English instruction. Accordingly, the English program makes
up a large proportion of the university’s curriculum for students from all
departments, including students from Architecture Department. The English
program for Architecture majors is divided into two stages: General English (GE),
and English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The GE stage is implemented in the first
two academic years, while the ESP in the third-year.

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It is the fact that the ESP syllabus plays a significant part in the whole English
program. However, from academic year 2013-2014, due to some factors, the whole
time for the English program will be cut short to only two years. If the ESP reading
instruction lasts for one academic year only, it would not be a sufficient time to
train students the language for Architecture purpose.
In addition, during the time teaching EGP and ESP to Architecture students, from
first-year to third-year ones, the researcher recognizes two major issues. First,
whereas they are quite confident with English grammar exercises, they struggle a lot
when dealing with the four language skills, particularly reading. Third-year students
prove to be ineffective readers, with weak reading skills although they have taken
one academic year studying GE with a four-skill integrated course. Secondly, quite
a few teachers have made complaints about our Architecture students’ lack of focus
and motivation in reading GE texts, mostly because they find them uninteresting
and irrelevant, so the effectiveness of the class is often low.
In conclusion, it is the fact that the current syllabus has not yielded the teachers’
desired results and has proved inadequate in addressing the students’ needs. To
improve the students’ reading skills, it is suggested that a separate reading course
should be introduced earlier from the first academic year, because reading takes
considerable time and resources to develop, and it cannot be taught in one or two
courses (Grabe, 1991). Apart from that, in order to make the syllabus accommodate
the Architecture students’ immediate and long-term needs, an ESP approach to
syllabus design should be adopted.
With consideration of the whole context, I decided to carry out the research entitled
“Designing an ESP reading syllabus for first-year students of Architecture at Hanoi
University of Business and Technology”
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2. Previous related studies
Together with the economic integration into the global market, the need of learning
English and especially ESP is ever increasing. So far, there have been a number of
studies on ESP syllabus design for ESP courses. Among those, there are ESP theses
for different disciplines. Among them are the ESP reading syllabuses designed by
Doan Van Giao (2005, cited in Ha, 2008) for students of Civil Engineering, Tran
Thi Dung for students of Urban Planning (2007), Dinh Thi Thu Ha for students
Informatics (2008) and Dora Chostelidou for students of Accountancy (2010). They
did a needs analysis suitable for the context at their working place.
Giao (2005) carries out a needs analysis on current students, ex-students, ESP
teachers, teachers and employers. This is expected to help improve the teaching and
learning of ESP reading at his university. However, he only uses questionnaires as a
data collection instrument, which is not enough to achieve objective results of his
students’ needs. In Dung’s thesis, what is notable is an in-depth analysis of needs
from various sources, including ESP teachers, subject teachers and second-year
students. However, the questionnaire items concerning reading skills and exercises
are a bit too lengthy and complicated for the students. Ha (2008)’s thesis was done
with ex-students apart from ESP teachers, subject teachers and second-year
students. This helps the author get a wider view on what reading skills, types of
English specialist materials learners should be in touch with at work, which is a
reliable source about target needs. What is emphasized in Chseostelidou (2010)’s
study is that a needs analysis is a key to identifying learners’ needs, learning
competence and competence required of them in their future job. Therefore, needs
analysis plays a crucial role in designing an ESP course.
A common feature of these studies is the use of needs analysis in the process of
designing or redesigning an ESP syllabus. Thanks for that, they are used by the
writer of this thesis as an important source of reference. Seeking to design an ESP
syllabus appropriate for the first-year students of Architecture at HUBT, this study
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is also expected to contribute its distinguished features to the whole research
scenario of ESP teaching in general.
3. The aim of the study
The main aim of the study is to investigate the learning needs, wants and lacks of
the first-year students of Architecture in ESP reading learning, and expectations of
ESP teachers, which serve as the foundation for designing an appropriate ESP
reading syllabus. To achieve the aim, a needs analysis was done to identify the
target needs and learning needs of the students because, as Basturkmen (2008) puts
it, a key feature of ESP syllabus design is that the syllabus is based on an analysis of
the needs of the students.
4. Research questions
This study aimed to address the following research questions:
1. What are the perceptions and attitudes of Architecture students, ESP teachers at
HUBT, and architectural professionals towards ESP reading?
The answer to question 1 leads to the next question:
2. Is it necessary to introduce an ESP reading syllabus to first-year students of
Architecture at HUBT? And if yes,
3. How should such an ESP reading syllabus be designed?
5. Methodology
Survey research is employed in this study with the use of questionnaire and
interview as the means of collecting data about first-year Architecture students’
target needs and learning needs. (For more details, see chapter II, Part B)
6. Scope of the study
The study is done based on the circumstances for first-year Architecture majors at
Hanoi University of Business and Technology (HUBT). Due to the scope of the
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thesis, a needs analysis of the students was focused, which serves as the foundation
to put forwards an ESP reading syllabus for them.
7. Significance of the study

Within the limited scope based on the HUBT circumstances, the study will
hopefully, to some extent, make ESP reading instruction at HUBT more effective
and responsive to the first-year Architecture students’ desires, the ESP teachers’
expectations in line with the university training goals and the labor market’s
demands. Besides, the researcher also considers this M.A. minor thesis as an
opportunity to make an improvement on her own ESP teaching practice.
8. Organization of the thesis
The thesis consists of three main parts, followed by a list of references and
appendices.
Part A: Introduction, presenting the rationale, the aims, scope and significance of
the study, previous related studies, and the organization of the thesis.
Part B: Development
Chapter I: Theoretical background, with the related literature being reviewed.
Chapter II: Research methodology, including research method, data collection
instruments, subjects, data collection procedures and data analysis methods.
Chapter III: Data analysis, presenting and discussing the findings.
Chapter IV: A proposed ESP reading syllabus for HUBT first-year Architecture
students.
Part C: Conclusion
6

PART B
DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I
THEORETICAL BACKGROUND

In this part, some key notions about ESP syllabus design will be addressed, with
focuses on literature in ESP, reading, syllabus design and needs analysis.
1.1. English for specific purposes
Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p. 20) defines “ESP is an approach to language

teaching which aims to meet the needs of particular learners”. Dudley-Evans and St
John asserts that “the main concerns of ESP have always been, and remain, with
needs analysis, text analysis, and preparing learners to communicate effectively in
the tasks prescribed by their study or work situation” (1998, p. 1).
A question emerging here is: what is the difference between ESP and GE, and what
is the position of ESP in ELT. In fact, the border between ESP and GE is not always
clear. Barnard and Zemach believe ESP should not be seen as a discrete division of
ELT, but simply “an area (with blurred boundaries) whose courses are usually more
focused in their aims and make use of a narrower range of topic” (2003, pp. 306–
307, quoted in Basturkmen, 2010). As Basturkmen (2010) points out, the focus of
ESP courses is narrower than ELT courses for they put emphasis on analysis of
learners’ needs.
The definitions show that ESP relates learners closely with their work or study, and
that ESP courses center on work- or study-related needs, not personal needs or
general interests. They once again strengthen the researcher’s assumption that a
reading syllabus designed in the ESP approach is of great benefit to her students in
that it enhances their linguistic competence in the subject matter of Architecture,
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and understanding of basic architectural concepts, which are very helpful when they
are involved in Architecture or construction later on. As a matter of fact, this is in
line with HUBT’s policy of training; accordingly, training students should be
career-oriented, labor-market-oriented and practical.
Hutchinson & Waters (1987, p. 17) present the tree of ELT which shows the
development of ESP in relation with ELT, in which basically there are two main
groups of ESP: English for Academic Purposes, and English for Occupational
Purposes. The target ESP reading syllabus, which is expected to prepare
linguistically students for their future job, can be put into the latter group.
Distinguished by the nature of the learners’ specialism, three major categories are
identified: English for Science and Technology (EST), English for Business and

Economics, and English for Social Science (ESS). Architecture has long been
considered as a trans-disciplinary domain, covering various areas such as chemistry
of materials, design, aesthetics, construction, physics etc. Thus English for
Architecture can belong to either the EST or ESS.
1.2. Reading in ESL/EFL and ESP
In this part, the theories on reading in ESL/EFL and ESP are presented, focusing on
the concepts of reading skill, reading instruction, and categories of reading sub-
skills.
1.2.1. Reading skill instruction
In the field of teaching and learning of foreign languages, the term skills refers to
the four main modes of performance, that is reading, listening, writing and
speaking. A reading skill can be described as “a cognitive ability which a person is
able to use when interacting with texts” (Urquhart & Weir, 1998). While
comprehension can be viewed as the product of reading a written text, skills are
seen as part of the reading process.
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According to Grabe (2002), comprehension strategy training has great potential for
reading comprehension improvement. Reading was characterized as an active
process of comprehending and students needed to be taught strategies to read more
efficiently. For teachers, the goal of reading instruction was to provide students
with a range of effective approaches to texts. Specific skills and strategies,
therefore, should be given high priority and practiced consistently.
1.2.2. ESP reading instruction
Reading is generally seen as the most critical skill in both GE and ESP. Carrel
(1988, p.1) asserts that for many students, reading is by far the most important of
four skills in a second language.
According to Thornbury (2006), there are two types of classroom reading: reading
as skills development and reading as language study - using texts to study linguistic
features (e.g. vocabulary, grammar, phonetics). In most GE courses, reading is

mainly instructed for both or either of the two purposes. ESP reading instruction
shares the same feature. In fact there is no real difference between reading skills for
EGP and ESP because “reading skills are not language-specific but universal”
(Chitravelu, 1980, quoted in Hutchinson & Water, 1987). Therefore reading skills
instruction in ESP is basically similar to EGP.
On the other hand, ESP reading instruction has its own typical feature. ESP reading
in particular is primarily instructed for the purpose of familiarizing students with the
way the specialized English language is used in a particular subject area (e.g.
English for Business, Tourism and Hospitality, Information Technology), together
with developing reading skills, so they can effectively deal with a possibly
enormous volume of literature in their future career life. Reading in ESP classes,
therefore, demands a greater degree of concentration, precision and intensity than in
GE classes. Thus ESP teachers should equip their students with useful reading skills
and strategies, give them opportunities to get familiar with terminology in their own
domain so as to reach the ultimate goal of any reading program – “to enable
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students to read without help unfamiliar authentic texts at appropriate speed with
adequate understanding” (Nuttal, 1996, p.21).
1.2.3. Taxonomies of reading skills
According to Alderson and Lukmani (1989), many attempts have been made to
build the taxonomies of subskills with or without experimental evidence supporting
their claims (e.g. Davis, 1968; Munby, 1978; Richards, 1983; Weir, 1993; Buck,
Tatsuoka, Kostin & Phelps, 1997). Nonetheless, as Alderson (2000) points out,
there is still no agreement on “whether separable comprehension sub-skills exist,
and what such sub-skills might consist of and how they might be classified” (p. 10).
Although the concept of reading skill divisibility is theoretically of great
controversy, in practice, it is common that language teachers and language test
developers often make distinction between different comprehension sub-skills and
use it as a basis for designing syllabus, materials and tests (Alderson & Lukmani,

1989; Alderson, 2000).
Munby (1994: 179) provides the list of important learning skills, among which
some of the reading skills include:
- Deducing the meaning of unfamiliar lexical terms;
- Recognizing indicators in discourse;
- Extracting salient points to summarize;
- Using basic reference skills;
- Skimming to get general information;
- Scanning to locate specifically required information;
- Trans-coding information to diagrammatic display.
His list, which though has had great influence to syllabus designer and test
developer, is often criticized as based on intuition. The researcher also finds it
difficult to apply into a syllabus because there was no real categorization criterion.
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According to Nuttal (1996), as in her reading skills book for intermediate learners,
there are two kinds of macro-reading skills: word-attack skills and text-attack skills.
Her reading skill categories are quite systematic yet as she states inapplicable to
learners at the elementary English level. However, it can be a good suggestion for
the syllabus designer to set a criterion for categorizing reading skills.
Grabe (1991), in an attempt to review literature in ESL reading research, states that
researchers propose at least six general component skills and language areas:
1. Automatic recognition skills
2. Vocabulary and structural knowledge
3. Formal discourse structure knowledge
4. Content/world background knowledge
5. Synthesis and evaluation skills/strategies
6. Meta-cognitive knowledge and skills monitoring
His list seems to be very comprehensive theoretically, but for a syllabus designer, it
would be hard to put it into a practical syllabus. Here, only part of the list is selected

for consideration. In particular, Grabe (1991) points out that the ability to use meta-
cognitive skills effectively is “widely recognized as a critical component of skilled
reading.” As related to reading, the skills include: using context to sort out a
misunderstood segment; skimming portions of the text; previewing headings,
pictures and summary; using search strategies for finding specific information;
using a dictionary; using word-formation and affix information to guess word
meaning; summarizing information; etc. (Grabe, 1991, p. 382).
Regarding the list of reading strategies, Anderson (1991) suggests that “there is no
single set of strategies that significantly contributes to success” in L2 reading tasks”
(p. 468, quoted in Anderson, 1994). Grabe (1991) shares the same view, saying the
particular skills and strategies to be emphasized in a reading syllabus depend on the
educational contexts, student needs, and teaching objectives. Therefore, one of the
11

syllabus designer’s important tasks is to figure out the most basic reading strategies
suitable for first-year Architecture students at HUBT, which serves as a major
component of the syllabus, basing on the needs analysis.
1.3. Syllabus design
In the onset of this section, the term “syllabus” will be discussed, with its definition,
how it relates to a broader field of curriculum development, its components and
organisation.
1.3.1. Curriculum, course and syllabus
Richards (2001) points out the key stages in ELT curriculum development include:
situation analysis, needs analysis, goal setting, syllabus design, materials
development and adaptation, teaching and teacher-support, and evaluation.
According to Nunan (1988), a curriculum has at least three phrases: a planning
phase, an implementation phase and an evaluation phase; syllabus design forms a
part of the planning phase. Accordingly, syllabus design is part of curriculum
development.
As Candlin points out (1984, cited in Nunan, 1988), curricula concern with making

general statements about language teaching, learning purpose and experience,
evaluation and the role relationships of teachers and learners.
A syllabus is “a more detailed and operational statements of teaching and learning
elements which translates the philosophy of the curriculum into a series of planned
steps leading towards more narrowly defined objectives at each level” (Dublin and
Olshtain, p. 35). It is “more localized” and takes into consideration “what is
happening at the classroom level as teachers and learners apply a given curriculum
to their own situation” (Nunan, 1988, p. 3)
A course is “an integrated series of teaching-learning experiences, whose ultimate
aim is to lead the learners to a particular state of knowledge” (Hutchinson and
Waters 1987, p. 65).
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It is important to make a distinction between a curriculum and a course since some
of the stages in curriculum development as societal needs analysis, testing for
placement purposes or program-wide evaluation may be out of the hands of teachers
who are developing courses (Richards, 2001).
Given the above definitions, it can be accepted to consider syllabus design as part of
course design, which in turn, is part of the curriculum development as a whole.
Moreover, a single curriculum can be “the basis for developing a variety of specific
syllabuses which are concerned with locally defined audiences, particular needs and
intermediate objectives” (Nunan, 1988, p. 35).
1.3.2. Components of a syllabus
Syllabus can be defined several different ways. Some researchers advocating the
narrow view believe that distinction should be made between syllabus content and
methodology. For example, Hutchinson & Waters (1987, p. 80) define syllabus as
“at its simplest level, a statement of what is to be learnt. It reflects of language and
linguistic performance.”
Some others who adopt a broader view argue that syllabus content and methodology
are inseparable. Candlin (cited in Nunan 1988, p. 46) wonders whether it is possible

to distinguish the content from the method and evaluation. He thinks that all these
factors should be combined to have a more inclusive view to what teachers are to do
in class. In favor of this view, Dublin and Olshtain (1986, p. 28) offer a very
comprehensive view on syllabus. They hold that it should contain the following
ingredients:
1. What the learners are expected to know at the end of the course, or the course
objectives.
2. What to be taught or learnt during the course.
3. When it is to be taught, and at what of progress relating to the inventory of items
to the different levels and stages as well as to the time constraints of the course.
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4. How it is taught, suggesting procedures, techniques and materials.
5. How it is to be evaluated, suggesting testing and evaluating mechanism.
In this study, the researcher will adopt this broad view which assumes that a
syllabus entails not only what to teach but also how to teach.
1.3.3. Types of syllabus
There have been many ways in which a syllabus can be organized in practice, such
as grammatical or structural syllabus, notional/functional syllabus, situational
syllabus, topic-based syllabus, skill-based syllabus, task-based syllabus, text-based
syllabus (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987; Nunan, 1988; Richards, 2001; Robinson,
2009).
Regarding designing a reading syllabus, the researcher would like to focus only on
three syllabus types, namely skill-based syllabus, topical syllabus and integrated (or
mixed) syllabus with their typical features.
1.3.3.1. Topical or content-based syllabus
This type syllabus is organized around themes, topics rather situations (Brown
1995: 9). With a topical syllabus, content is the starting point in syllabus design and
serves as the only criterion for organizing the framework. The main advantages of
coursed based on this syllabus type mentioned by Richard (2001, p. 158) include:

 Content serves as the best basis for teaching the skill areas.
 It can address learners’ needs and can motivate them.
 It can allow for the use of authentic materials.
1.3.3.2. Skill- based syllabus
This kind of syllabus is organized around different academic skills which the
students will most need in order to use and continue to learn the language. It just
focuses on the four skills in learning English. The selection of the skills may be
based from the author’s perception of their usefulness, whilst their order is normally
14

based on various criteria such as chronology, frequency, or relative usefulness of
the skills (Brown, 1995). The role of the syllabus designer is “to draw up an
inventory of the sub-skills … then sequence them, and weave them together in a
principled way” (Robinson, 2009). The advantages of skills based syllabus are
claimed as follows: 1) they teach skills that can be transferred to many other
situations; 2) they identify teachable and learnable units. (Richards, 2001, p. 161)
1.3.3.3. Mixed/Integrated syllabus
There is a tendency that syllabus designers combine two or more certain types of
syllabus, which lead to the appearance of a new type of syllabus called mixed
syllabus. Discussing this new type of syllabus, as Brown (1995, p. 12) states,
“mixed syllabi occur when authors choose to mix two or more types of syllabi
together into what looks like a different type of syllabus – at least in the table of
content.” Then depending on priorities on a certain course, the course designer must
make decisions between macro-level and micro-level planning units in the course.
1.3.3.4. Conclusion
When it comes to deciding a suitable syllabus framework, it depends a lot on the
priority in teaching rather than an absolute choice. Considering the features of the
above-discussed approaches that could be appropriate for designing a reading
syllabus, the researcher assumes that the integrated syllabus could be the most
appropriate framework for the context of teaching ESP reading to HUBT first-year

Architecture students. One important reason is it can integrate both the instruction
of reading sub-skills and the use of specialist texts. However, a decision must be
made of which type of syllabus, topical or skill-based, should be put at the macro-
level of the syllabus.
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1.4. Needs analysis
According to Brown (1995, p. 35), “Needs analysis refers to the activities involved
in gathering information that will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum that
will meet the learning needs of a particular group of students”. It is also
acknowledged that “needs analysis is the cornerstone of ESP” and its proper
application can result into a “focused course” (Dudley-Evans & St John, 1998,
p.121). In this part, an attempt will be made to define needs and discuss the types
of needs.
1.4.1. Definition of needs
The concept of needs has been considered under various perspectives with many
interpretations being proposed accordingly. Robinson (1991, p.7) cites different
opinions about needs from Windowson (1981) and Mountford (1981) as follows:
Firstly, needs refer to students’ study or job requirements, which are what they have
to do at the end of the course. This is a goal-oriented definition of needs
(Windowson 1981, p.2). Needs in this sense are perhaps more appropriately
described as “objectives” (Berwich, 1989, p.57). Secondly, needs mean “what the
user-institution or society at large regard as necessary or desirable to be learnt from
a program of language instruction” (Mountford, 1981, p. 27). Needs are seen as
what the learners need to do to acquire the language. This is a process-oriented
definition of needs (Widowson, 1981, p. 2). Fourthly, needs are considered to be
wants or desires, i.e. what the students themselves would like to gain from the
language course (Berwich, 1989, p.55). Lastly, needs are also interpreted as lacks,
that is, what the students do not know or cannot do in English (Robinson, 1991,
p.8).

1.4.2. Types of needs
1.4.2.1. Target needs
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Hutchinson and Waters (1987) point out that target needs include necessities, lacks,
and wants. Necessities mean all the things that learners need to know to work well
in their future job. Lacks mean the needs to know what the learners have been
already good at so that the course can help the learners to bridge the gap between
that and the target proficiency. Wants mean what the learners want from a course.
1.4.2.2. Learning needs
According to Hutchinson & Waters (1987), considering the destination (for the
learners) is not the only factor in course design. They confirm that “it is a reliable
indicator of what is needed … in learning situation.” Therefore, as they put it,
course designers should take into account other things such as conditions of
learning situation, learners’ knowledge, skills and strategies and motivation. In
other words, learning needs are the factors affecting learning processes in term of
learners, teachers, facilities, time, etc.
In this study the learning-centered approach (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987) will be
adopted for needs analysis, which provides information about the target situation
needs - what people do with the language, and learning needs – how people learn to
do what they (should/will) do with the language. It is the task of a course designer
to take into consideration both subjective factors, and other objective factors. Only
by doing so can the syllabus bridge the gap between the objectives of the course and
the benefits of the learners.
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CHAPTER II
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY

This chapter, the methodology applied in this research will be described. A detailed

description will be presented of the research methods, data collection instruments,
the subjects of the study, data collection procedure and methods of data analysis.
2.1. Research methods
The survey method is adopted in this study with the use of questionnaire and
interview as the means of data collection. A detailed description of the data
collection instruments and the participants is presented in the following parts.
2.2. Data collection instruments
One of the best methodologies for studying the target needs and learning needs of
any particular group of workers/students is to use such methods as questionnaires,
interviews, collection of authentic workplace texts and visits to the workplace
(Hutchinson and Waters, 1987; Robinson, 1991; Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998).
In order to answer the first two research questions as stated earlier in the
introduction chapter, a mixture of questionnaire and interview is used to investigate
the target needs and learning needs regarding an ESP reading syllabus for first-year
Architecture students at HUBT.
2.2.1. Questionnaire
Questionnaires were employed as the main means of data collection because is
often considered efficient at collecting information from a large number of
respondents with a wide range of information can be collected. Three sets of
questionnaires were used in this study: a set for first-year students from
Architecture department, a survey set for third-year students, and one for architects.
The questionnaires consist of both close-ended questions and open-ended questions.
The advantage of close-ended questions, as Nunan (1992) states, is that they are
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easy to collect and analyze. Besides, in my opinion, they give suggested ideass,
which allows for the respondents to answer some questions more easily and
comfortably. However, structured surveys with solely closed-ended questions may
have low validity when researching affective variables. Therefore, the additional
use of open items can give more insightful information and reflect more accurately

the respondent’s ideas. Some questions are all open-ended, or close-ended, while
some others combine both to reveal more in-depth information.
In addition, they were all written in Vietnamese - the respondents’ mother tongue. It
is to make the survey more informant-friendly and clear for them to understand the
questions and thereby answer them precisely, which contributes to the reliability of
the information collected.
2.2.1.1. First-year student questionnaire
This questionnaire was administered to first-year Architecture majors to gather the
data about their background profile and learning needs toward an ESP reading
course. The sample questions in this questionnaire, which is divided into two parts,
can be seen in Appendix 1(p. IV).
The informants of this questionnaire are 50 first-year students at the age ranging
from 19 to 21. They are from the cohort 17 in the Department of Architecture,
HUBT. They have English learning experience ranging from 7 to 10 years. Through
the means of placement test at the beginning of the academic year, their English
competence was judged to be at the elementary level. They were in the second
semester of the 2012-2012 academic year.
The questionnaire consists of two parts. Part A was designed to gather the data
about who the learners are. The questions in this part were to reveal information
about first-year students’ background information such as their age, gender, and
years of studying English. It was also expected that these simple questions could
make the students feel easy to get started with the questionnaire.
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Part B was intended to uncover the students’ expectations of an ESP reading course,
their awareness of the role of learning English, expected purposes of using English
at work, preferences on reading topics and learning styles.
There are seven questions in total. The first two are close-ended questions asking
about their beliefs towards the role of English learning and their expected purposes
of using English at work. Question 3 investigates their expectations towards an ESP

reading course for the first academic year. Questions from 4 to7 explore their
preferences of the topics in a reading course, and learning styles.
2.2.1.2. Third-year student questionnaire
The respondents of this questionnaire are 48 third-year Architecture students of the
cohort 15 at HUBT. They have spent two years learning GE and are taking an ESP
course.
In this questionnaire (see Appendix 2, p. VII), the first two are close-ended
questions asking about their beliefs towards the role of English learning and their
expected purposes of using English at work. Question 3 investigates third-year
attitudes toward the current reading instruction for first-year students, ESP reading
syllabus for first-year students. Lastly, they are asked to give suggestions for
improving ESP training quality.
2.2.1.3. Architect questionnaire
With a view to investigating how Architectures read specialist materials as part of
their work, this questionnaire entails mostly open-ended questions. The sample
questions in this questionnaire can be seen in Appendix 3 (p. IX).
This questionnaire was administered to six architectural professionals. They have
been working as Architectures for at least 5 years. Three of the informants were
working for a private construction company in Hanoi. One of the informants were
looking for a new job who was once working for a foreign construction consulting