Designing an ESP reading syllabus for the second-year students of Business Administration at the Waterway Transport Vocational College Number 1 Thiết kế chương

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

*************************

NGUYỄN THỊ THANH HÀ

TÓM TẮT LUẬN VĂN
DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE SECOND
YEAR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AT THE
WATERWAY TRANSPORT VOCATIONAL COLLEGE NUMBER 1
THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 2 NGÀNH QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH
TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG NGHỀ GIAO THÔNG VẬN TẢI ĐƯỜNG THUỶ 1

M.A MINOR THESIS

Field: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Code: 60 14 10

Hanoi - 2011


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

*************************

NGUYỄN THỊ THANH HÀ

DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE SECOND
YEAR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AT THE
WATERWAY TRANSPORT VOCATIONAL COLLEGE NUMBER 1
THIẾT KẾ CHƯƠNG TRÌNH ĐỌC TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO
SINH VIÊN NĂM THỨ 2 NGÀNH QUẢN TRỊ KINH DOANH
TRƯỜNG CAO ĐẲNG NGHỀ GIAO THÔNG VẬN TẢI ĐƯỜNG THUỶ 1

M.A MINOR THESIS
Field: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: NGUYỄN THỤY PHƯƠNG LAN, M.A.

Hanoi - 2011


iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION.............................................................................................................

i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ……………………………………………………….......

ii

ABSTRACT…………………………………………………………………………….

iii

TABLE OF CONTENTS ………………………………………………………….......

iv

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS……………………………………………………….....

vii

LIST OF TABLES ...........................………………………………………………......

viii

PART I: INTRODUCTION…………………………………………………………...

1

1. Rationale …………………………………………………………………………...

1

2. Aims and objectives…………………………………………………………….......

2

3. Research questions…………………………………………………………………

2

4. Scope of the study…………………………………………………………………..

2

5. Methods of the study……………………………………………………………….

2

6. Overview of the thesis……………………………………………………………...

3

PART II: DEVELOPMENT…………………………………………………………..

4

CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW……………………………………………

4

1.1. An overview of ESP……………………………………………………………..

4

1.2. An overview of syllabus design………………………………………………...

5

1.2.1. Definition of syllabus………………………………………………………..

5

1.2.2. Approaches to ESP syllabus design……………………………………......

6

1.2.2.1. Language-centred approach………………………………………………….

6

1.2.2.2.Skill-centred approach………………………………………………………….

6

1.2.2.3. Learning-centred approach………………………………………………......

7

1.2.3. Types of syllabus ……………………………………………………………

7

1.2.3.1. The structural-grammatical syllabus………………………………………..

7

1.2.3.2. The situational syllabus………………………………………………………..

8

1.2.3.3. The functional/notional syllabus…………………………………………….

8

1.2.3.4. The task-based syllabus………………………………………………….

9


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1.2.3.5. The topic-based syllabus…………………………………………………

9

1.2.3.6. The skill-based syllabus………………………………………………….

10

1.2.4. Steps to design a syllabus……………………………………………………

10

1.2.5. Needs analysis……………………………………………………………......

11

1.3. Theories of reading………………………………………………………….......

11

1.3.1. Reading in ESP………………………………………………………………

11

1.3.2. Reading skills and strategies in ESP………………………………………..

12

1.3.2.1. Reading skills…………………………………………………………………….

12

1.3.2.2. Reading strategies……………………………………………………………….

13

1.4. Summary………………………………………………………………………...

14

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY………………………………………………………….

15

2.1. Introduction…………………………………………………………………......

15

2.2. The teaching and learning English situation at the WTVC Number 1……...

15

2.3. The target students………………………………………………………….......

16

2.4. The teaching staff of the English group……………………………………….

18

2.5. The study…………………………………………………………………….......

18

2.5.1. The subjects……………………………………………………………........

18

2.5.2. Instruments for collecting data…………………………………………….

18

2.5.3. Procedure……………………………………………………………………

20

2.5.3.1. The administering of the questionnaires…………………………….....

20

2.5.3.2. The conducting of the interviews……………………………………….

20

2.5.4. The findings…………………………………………………………………

21

2.5.4.1. Needs perceived by the teachers of the English group..…………………..

21

2.5.4.2. Needs perceived by the subject teachers…………………………………….

24

2.5.4.3. Needs perceived by the target students………………………………….......

26

2.5.4.4. Needs perceived by the ex-students of Business Administration……….

27

2.6. Summary………………………………………………………………………...

28

CHAPTER 3: DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR THE
SECOND-YEAR STUDENTS OF BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION AT THE

vi

WTVC NUMBER 1…………………………………………………………………….

29

3.1. Aims and objectives of the reading syllabus………………………………......

29

3.2. Selecting the type of ESP syllabus…………………………………………......

30

3.3. Sequencing the content and the tasks in the syllabus………………………...

30

3.3.1. Selecting the content…………………………………………………….......

30

3.3.1.1. Topics in the syllabus………………………………………………………….

31

3.3.1.2. Reading skills and reading exercises………………………………............

31

3.3.1.3. Grammar and structures……………………………………………………...

32

3.3.2. Grading the items in the syllabus………………………………………….

33

3.3.3. The organization of the syllabus…………………………………………...

33

3.3.3.1. Time allocation…………………………………………………………………

33

3.3.3.2. Quantity and structures of the syllabus…………………………………….

34

3.4. Designing tests for the ESP reading course…………………………………...

34

3.5. The proposed syllabus for the second-year students of business
administration at the WTVC number 1………………………………………………

35

3.6. Summary………………………………………………………………………...

35

PART III: CONCLUSION…………………………………………………………….

41

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………………………

43

APPENDIXES………………………………………………………………………….

I


vii

LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EAP: English for Academic Purposes
EGP: English for General Purposes
EFL: English as a foreign language
ELT: English Language Teaching
EOP: English for Occupational Purposes
ESP: English for Specific Purposes
GE: General English
The WTVC Number 1: The Waterway Transport Vocational College Number 1

viii

LIST OF TABLES
Table 1: Teachers’ expectations of the ESP reading course……………………………...XII
Table 2: Teachers’ opinion of topics relating to Business Administration ……………..XIV
Table 3: Teachers’ ranking of grammar and structures needed for the syllabus…………XV
Table 4: Reading skills and exercises needed for reading comprehension perceived by the
teachers……………………………………………………………………......................XVI
Table 5: Students’ expectations at the end of the course………………………………XVIII
Table 6: Students’ opinion of topics relating to Business Administration……………….XX
Table 7: Reading skills and exercises needed for reading comprehension perceived by the
students…………………………………………………………………………………..XXI


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PART I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, English plays a significant role in our lives. It is not only an international
means to communicate but also a useful tool to acquire scientific and modern technological
information. In fact, people learn English because of many different reasons, among which
the most common might be preparing for their future career. To fulfill this demand, ESP
(English for specific purposes) is put into the curriculum of many colleges and universities.
At the Waterway Transport Vocational College Number 1, different ESP courses are
taught to students of different majors. Students of Business Administration, after finishing
a 120-period General English course, will progress to the ESP stage which consists of 60
periods, namely English for Business Administration. At this stage, teachers of the English
section, especially those who are asked to teach English for Business Administration,
encounter many problems due to the lack of an appropriate ESP syllabus. Since no really

suitable published material is available for the identified needs, they have no choice but to
provide their own material for the course. Being one member of the ESP teachers who are
directly involved in this challenging task, I realized that designing an appropriate ESP
reading syllabus is of great necessity and significance. At present, there are many different
kinds of English textbooks written by the English - native authors. Their content and
construction are good and verified. However, to some extent, they are not suitable for our
students' specific purposes, their conditions, their cognitive ability, their language
competence, their aims or objectives, their interests, time allocation for the syllabus and so
on.
From the reasons above, I have decided to choose the project of designing an ESP reading
syllabus for the second-year students of Business Administration at the Waterway
Transport Vocational College Number 1(the WTVC Number 1) for my thesis. Hopefully,
when the syllabus based on the theory of designing an ESP reading course and the careful
consideration of the characteristics of teachers and students at WTVC Number 1 is
successfully designed, it will bring about positive improvements to the current ESP
teaching practice at the WTVC Number 1, which will expectedly lead to the students‟
desired learning outcomes.


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2. Aims and objectives
The main purpose of the study is to design an appropriate and practical reading syllabus for
the second year students of Business Administration at the WTVC number 1. Therefore,
the following objectives are set up:
(1) to build a theoretical background which is necessary for designing an ESP syllabus.
(2) to find out the needs of the ESP teachers, ESP students, the subject teachers and the exstudents to create a suitable reading syllabus for the target students.
(3) to design a workable reading syllabus based on related theories and the needs analysis.
3. Research questions
This study is carried out to answer the following questions:

1. What are the learning needs as perceived by the second-year students of Business
Administration, the ex-students, the teachers of English as well as the subject teachers at
the Waterway Transport Vocational College Number 1?
2. What should be included in the ESP reading syllabus for the second-year
students of Business Administration at the Waterway Transport Vocational College
Number 1 as perceived by the teachers and the students?
4. Scope of the study
This study is started from a critical need to design an appropriate ESP syllabus for the
second year students of Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1. Within the
scope of a minor thesis, this research paper focuses on the designing process itself; only the
basic theories related to reading skill, ESP and syllabus design are offered. The study‟s
major participants are the teachers of the English group, the subject teachers, the second
year students of Business Administration and the ex-students of Business Administration at
the WTVC Number 1.
5. Methods of the study
This study used both qualitative and quantitative methods. In order to identify the needs for
the ESP syllabus from a broad view, the quantitative method was employed by means of
questionnaires. The questionnaires were carried out to collect data from the teachers of
English group and the second year students of Business Administration at the WTVC
Number 1. In addition, to collect in-depth data, the qualitative method was applied through


3

interviews with subject teachers of Business Administration and through discussions with
the ex-students and colleagues.
6. Overview of the thesis
This thesis is composed of three main parts:
Part I- Introduction presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research questions, scopes,
methods and the overview of the thesis.

Part II- Development, which is the main part of the study, consists of three chapters:


Chapter 1 reviews the literature concerning ESP, syllabus design, needs analysis
and reading theories.



Chapter 2 describes in details the study including its background, subjects,
instruments for collecting data and findings of the study.



Chapter 3 proposes a reading syllabus for the second-year students of Business
Administration at the WTVC Number 1.

Part III- Conclusion offers a summary of the study, limitations and suggestions for further
research.


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PART II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1.1. An overview of English for specific purposes (ESP)
From the early 1960s, ESP has grown to be one of the most prominent areas of English
foreign language (EFL) teaching as it became increasingly aware that General English
courses frequently did not satisfy learners or employers wants. In Vietnam, ESP is a
developing branch of EFL. Therefore, the design of an ESP syllabus that serves a particular
group‟s interests and needs has become a matter of urgent concern among Vietnamese ESP

practitioners.
Hutchinson and Waters (1987) see ESP as an approach rather than a product, by which
they mean that ESP does not involve a particular kind of language teaching material or
methodology. They suggest that the foundation of ESP is the simple question: Why does
this learner need to learn a foreign language? The answer to this question relates to the
learners, the language required and the learning context, and thus establishes then primacy
of need in ESP.
According to Jack C. Richards (2001), in contrast to students learning English for General
purposes for whom master of the language for its own sake or in order to pass a general
examination is the primary goal, the ESP students is usually studying English in order to
carry out a particular role such as a doctor, a lawyer, a mechanic, a businessman or a ship
master.
Robinson (1991) claims “ESP is normally goal directed”. That is, students study English
not because they are interested in the English language as such but because they need
English for study or work purposes. An ESP course is based on a needs analysis, which
aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that the students have to do through
the medium of English.
Also in Hutchinson & Waters‟ opinion, ESP is divided into three divisions: English for
Science and Technology, English for Business and Economics, and English for Social
Science and then when coming to upper level, each branch is further divided into subdivisions according to learners‟ needs: for study as English for Academic Purposes (EAP)
and for work as English for Occupational Purposes (EOP).


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Munby (1978:55) also shares the same view that ESP could be divided into two broad
areas: EAP “ where the participant needs English to pursue part of his studies” and EOP
“where the participant needs English to perform all or part of his occupational duties”.
At the WTVC Number 1, EOP is taught for the students who need to use English as part of
their work. Especially, with the students of Business Administration, ESP plays a

significant role in their future jobs. Therefore, understanding the characteristics of ESP and
realizing the ways of classifying it will enable the researcher to succeed in making needs
analysis and designing an appropriate syllabus for her students.
1.2. An overview of syllabus design
1.2.1. Definition of syllabus
To begin with, it seems of great importance to define the term syllabus in order to have
better understanding of what it actually means and to which aspects and dimensions of
ELT it is related. Of course, it should be noted that there are many challenges to proper
defining an elaborating on the concept syllabus.
In Wilkins‟ (1981) words, syllabuses are “specifications of the content of language
teaching which have been submitted to some degree of structuring or ordering with the aim
of making teaching and learning a more effective process”. A syllabus can also be seen as
“a plan of what is to be achieved through our teaching and our students‟ learning” (Breen,
1984) while its function is “to specify what is to be taught and in what order” (Prabhu,
1984). Hutchinson and Waters (1987: 80) define syllabus at its simplest level “as a
statement of what is to be learnt”. They further add that it reflects of language and
linguistic performance. Yalden (1987:87) also refers to syllabus as a “summary of the
content to which learners will be exposed”.
Finally, in simple words, a language teaching syllabus involves the combination of subject
matter (what to teach) and linguistic matter (how to teach). It actually performs as a guide
for both teacher and learner by providing some goals to be completed. Syllabus, in fact,
deals with linguistic theory and theories of language learning and how they are utilized in
the classroom.
After having understood what the term language “syllabus” refers to, the researcher should
come to the next step to understand what language “syllabus design” consists of.
According to Munby (1978), syllabus design is seen as “a matter of specifying the content


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that needs to be taught and then organizing it into a teaching syllabus of appropriate
learning units”. Before realizing what is involved in syllabus design, a syllabus designer
also needs to be aware of the approaches in designing process.
1.2.2. Approaches to ESP syllabus design
Syllabus is a part of an overall language course. Therefore, in order to design one, it is
important to look over approaches to course design. According to Hutchinson and Waters
(1987) there are probably as many different approaches to ESP course design as there are
course designers. They identify three main types: language-centred, skill-centred and
learning-centred.
1.2.2.1. Language-centred approach
This approach is considered to have the simplest kind of course design process which
begins with identifying learners‟ target situation, proceeds through various stages of
analysis to a syllabus, then to materials in use in the classroom, and finally to evaluation of
mastery of the syllabus items. Though perceived as a very logical and straightforward
process, this model has a number of weaknesses. Firstly, the learner in this model is simply
used as a means of identifying the target situation while they should be considered at every
stage of the process. Secondly, the procedure is criticized for being static and inflexible.
Thirdly, being too dependent on the target situation, the language-centred model ignores
the importance of other learning factors contributing to the creation of any course. Finally,
its analysis of target situation data is only at the surface level and therefore reveals little
about the competence that underlies the performance.
1.2.2.2. Skill-centred approach
The skill-centred approach is a reaction both to the idea of specific registers of English as a
basis for ESP and to the practical constraints on learning imposed by limited time and
resources. Based on the idea that an ESP course helps learners to develop skills and
learning strategies which will continue to develop after the ESP course, this approach aims
to make the learners into better processors of information and therefore takes the learners
needs more into account than the language-centred approach. Besides, this model views the
learner as a user of language rather than as a learner of language and the processes it is
concerned with focus more on language use , not language learning. (Hutchinson and

Waters, 1987).


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1.2.2.3. Learning-centred approach
The learning-centred approach is based on the recognition of the complexity of the
learning process which is considered by Hutchinson and Waters as “a process of
negotiation between individuals and society. Society sets the target (in the case of ESP,
performance in the target situation) and the individuals must do their best to get as close to
the target as possible”. The learner, then, is one important factor to be considered at every
stage of the learning process. Bearing this in mind, the learning-centred approach fully
takes the learner into account while the language-centred and even the skills-centred
model, in spite of its emphasis on the learner, only use the learner to identify the target
situation and to analyze the learning situation, then the learner is discarded in the process
of determining the content of the course. Based on all these above points, learning-centred
approach is choosen as the basis for designing an ESP reading syllabus for the second-year
students of Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1.
1.2.3. Types of syllabus
There are different types of syllabus. In this part, we will review the literature about the six
types in order to find out the most suitable one.
1.2.3.1. The structural-grammatical syllabus
Historically, this seems to be the most prevalent of syllabus type, one in which syllabus
input is selected and graded according to grammatical notions of simplicity and
complexity. This type of syllabus is based on the traditional approach and therefore is
centered on items such as tenses, articles, singular/plural, etc. It introduces one item at a
time and requires mastery of that before moving on to the next. The semantic unit is placed
in the centre of syllabus organization (Dubin & Olshtain, 1986). The learner is expected to
master each structural step and add it to her grammar collection. According to McDonough
(1981), “The transition from lesson to lesson is intended to enable material in one lesson to

prepare the ground for the next; and conversely for material in the next to grow out of the
previous one” (p.21).
Despite its familiarity, there are two main criticisms that are often made about this type of
syllabus: (1), The grammatical syllabus focuses on only one aspects of language, namely
grammar whereas in truth there exist many more aspects to language such as the variety
language functions; (2), there is no one-to-one relation between form and function. A


8

single form can realize more than one function and conversely a given function can be
realized by more than one form; (3), there is a divergence between the grammar of the
spoken and of the written language. Thus, this type of syllabus can be suitable for teaching
linguistic structures but when communication fluency is desired, this type of syllabus
cannot be effective.
1.2.3.2. The situational syllabus
The limitations of the structural-grammatical syllabus led to the appearance of a second
type: the situational one, which, though less wide-spread, has already been known in
language learning for hundred years (Dubin & Olshtain, 1986). This model of syllabus is
closely related to topical or thematic syllabuses. Taking the situation need analysis as the
starting point, this type of syllabus consists of units indicating specific situations, such as
“At the post office”, “At the travel agency”, etc. It leads more directly to learners‟ ability
to communicate, though only in specific settings.
1.2.3.3. The Functional/Notional syllabus
With the appearance of the communicative approach, a new type of syllabus came into
being. This type of syllabus is in fact a combination of the two types: the notional (or
semantico-notional) and the functional. These two types of syllabus developed alongside
each other in the early seventies, and there have been various attempts to combine the two.
Function refers to the communicative purposes for which we use the language while
notions are the conceptual meanings expressed through the language. Examples of

functions are identifying, agreeing, disagreeing and complimenting, whereas a notional
syllabus deals with themes such as time, equality, space. The difference between a
Functional-Notional syllabus and a Structural-Grammatical syllabus is about the selection
and grading of items. Decisions about which items to be included in the syllabus can no
longer be made on linguistic grounds alone. The designers need to include items which
they imagine will help learners to carry out the communicative purposes for which they
need the language. This type of syllabus seems to be suitable in teaching communicative
skills. However, there are difficulties in the grading of content of this type of syllabus. It is
not easy to decide which functional item (for example, „apologizing‟), is either simpler or
more difficult than another item (as „requesting‟).


9

1.2.3.4. The task-based syllabus
The above mentioned types of syllabus belong to the product-oriented category of
syllabuses. The fourth type being reviewed in this thesis is a process-oriented one, which
represents an alternative path to syllabus design: the task-based syllabus. This type of
syllabus is organized around tasks rather than in terms of grammar or vocabulary. It
suggests a variety of different kinds of tasks and activities which the learners are expected
to carry out in the language. According to Richards et al. (1985), “This has been argued to
be a more effective way of learning a language since it provides a purpose for the use and
learning of language other than simply learning language items for their own sake” (p.18)
The syllabus, therefore, consists of, not a list of items determined through some form of
linguistic analysis, nor of a description of what learners will be able to do at the end of a
course of study, but “of the specification of the tasks and activities that learners will
engage in class.” (Nunan, 1988). This is because it is assumed in this type of syllabus that
speaking a language is a skill best perfected through practice and interaction, and it uses
tasks and activities to encourage learners to use the language communicatively in order to
achieve a purpose. Tasks designed in the syllabus aim at stimulating real communication.

They create a real purpose for language use and provide a natural context for language
study. They also provide learners with the motivation to improve and build on whatever
language they already have. Yet, a limitation of this syllabus type is its lack of content
specification (in terms of vocabulary, grammar, situation, function and notion, etc.), which
may be found confusing by both teachers and students.
1.2.3.5. The topic-based syllabus
With topic-based syllabus, content rather than grammar, functions or situations is the
starting point in design. Content may provide the sole criteria for organizing the syllabus or
a framework for linking a variety of different syllabus strands together. According to
Krahnke (1987:65), it is the teaching of content or information in the language being
learned with little or no direct effort to teach the language separately from the content
being taught. Organized around themes, topics or other units of content, this syllabus has
the advantage of deploying the content of the students‟ work or specialist study (Robinson,
1991:37) and thus, is of great significance for ESP. However, issues that arise in
developing one are: how are themes, topics and content decided on; what is the balance


10

between the content and grammar on other strands of the syllabus; and what should be the
basis for assessment, learning of content or learning of the language?
1.2.3.6. The skill-based syllabus
In this syllabus, the content of language teaching is a collection of particular skills that may
play a role in using language. Skills have traditionally been a central focus in language
teaching and there have been attempts to identify the macro skills underlying the use of the
four macro skills of Reading, Writing, Listening and Speaking as a basis for syllabus
design. For example, reading skill may be broken down into smaller micro skills such as
skimming and scanning. Skill-based syllabuses have the advantage of focusing on
performance in relation to specific skills and hence provide a practical framework for
designing courses and teaching materials. However, they have been criticized for focusing

on discrete aspects of performance rather than on developing more global and integrated
communicative abilities.
To sum up, we have had a look at the six types of syllabus, which are developed based on
the above approaches to syllabus design. Each syllabus type has its own advantages and
disadvantages. To minimize the limitations of the syllabus developed and to maximize its
efficiency, the researcher, therefore, intend to adopt a mixed type which incorporates all
the elements of all the syllabus type mentioned above.
1.2.4. Steps to design a syllabus
According to Nunan (1985:7), in designing a syllabus, the most important step is analyzing
the learner‟s needs. Yalden (1983) also has the same idea. He also suggested 5 following
steps in designing syllabus:
Needs analysis  Objectives and aims  Sequencing  Teaching method Testing and
evaluation.
Graves (1996:13) proposes a more detailed framework with seven steps including needs
assessment, determining goals and objectives, conceptualizing content, selecting and
developing materials and activities, organization of content and activities, evaluation and
consideration of resources and constraints.
Based on all these ideas, the syllabus for the target students of Business Administration at
the WTVC Number 1 will be designed by working out mainly on three steps: Needs
analysis, determining aims and objectives, selecting and grading content.


11

Since the first step, needs analysis provide validity and relevancy for all subsequence
design activities it will be furthered discussed in the next part of the thesis.
1.2.5. Needs analysis
As mentioned above, the key stage in ESP is needs analysis which is the corner stone of
ESP and leads to a very focused language course (Dudley-Evans & St. John, 1998:122).
There are many definitions of needs analysis given by different scholars and researchers.

According to Nunan (1988:75) needs analysis “refers to a family of procedures for
gathering information about learners and about communication tasks for use in syllabus
design”. A more detailed description of needs analysis is presented by Bachman and
Palmer (1996:102) as follows: “needs analysis, or needs assessment, involves the
systematic gathering of specific information about the languages needs of learners and the
analysis of this information for purposes of language syllabus design”.
The rationale for needs analysis is that by identifying elements of students‟ target English
situations and using them as the basis of ESP instruction, teachers will be able to provide
students with specific language they need to succeed in their courses and future careers
(Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1991).
Concerning the types of needs Hutchinson and Waters (1987) distinguish between target
needs and learning needs. Target needs comprise necessities (what the learner has to know
in order to function effectively in the target situation), lacks (the gap between target and
existing proficiency of the learner), and want (the learners‟ view on their needs). Learning
needs, on the other hand, is a cover term for all the factors connected to the process of
learning like attitude, motivation, awareness, personality, learning styles and strategies,
social background etc. Both target needs and learning needs are taken into account when
determining the aims and objectives of the syllabus.
The best methodology for studying the needs of any particular group of students, according
to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), is to use such methods as questionnaires, follow-up
interviews, and collection of authentic texts.
1.3. Theories of reading
1.3.1. Reading in ESP
Obviously, reading plays a crucial role among all the other skills of the English language in
both GE and ESP. Carrel (1988:1) claims that: “For many students, reading by far is the


12

most important of four skills in a second language, particularly in English as a second or

foreign language”. For ESP learners, reading is even more important because their
proficiency or deficiency in this skill would have a great effect on their future academic
and professional progress.
Beside the role of reading in ESP, it is also necessary to question the difference (if any)
between reading in ESP and reading for general purposes. At the National Annual IATEFL
Ukraine Conference, “Innovative Teaching of English and Lifelong Learning Strategies”,
the participants‟ answers for this question are: reading in GE is for pleasure and in ESP for
information. John and Davies (1983) also emphasized the importance of information for
reading in ESP by encapsulating the key principles that, for ESP learners, extracting
information accurately and quickly is more significant than language details; that
understanding the macrostructure comes before language study; and that application of
information in the text is of paramount importance (cited in Dudley-Evans & St. John,
1998: 96). From this statement, we come to the common decision that the reading skills
and strategies in GE and ESP are different as they depend greatly on the different purposes
of reading.
1.3.2. Reading skills and strategies in ESP
In their article, Afflerback, Pearson and Paris make a great point in clearing the confusion
between the two terms - reading skills and strategies. According to them, reading
strategies are deliberate, goal-directed attempts to control and modify the reader‟s efforts
to decode the text, understand words and construct meaning of text whereas reading skills
are automatic actions that result in decoding and comprehension with speed, efficiency and
fluency, usually without awareness of the components or control involved. Despite the
difference, reading skills and strategies have an important relationship to each other:
strategies are what we turn to when we lack the skills to accomplish something and “even
basic skills benefit from being taught as strategies initially” because strategies are how we
manage difficult tasks. Thus, one challenge for the ESP teachers when teaching reading is
to design instruction that makes clear the steps of strategies while providing practice so
that strategies may transform themselves into skills.
1.3.2.1. Reading skills

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From the recognition that good reading in ESP requires both language and skills, Dudley –
Evans and St.John (1998:96, 98) pointed out some of the key skills to be learnt or
transferred into the new language as follows:
-

selecting what is relevant for the current purpose;

-

using all the features of the text such as headings, layout, typeface;

-

skimming for content and meaning;

-

scanning for specifics;

-

identifying organizational patterns;

-

understanding relations within a sentence and between sentences;

-

using cohesive and discourse markers;

-

predicting, inferring and guessing;

-

identifying main ideas, supporting ideas and examples;

-

processing and evaluating the information during reading;

-

transferring or using the information while or after reading.

Most of these above skills are composed of several processes and cannot be used all at the
same time. Therefore, when reading a text, ESP readers have to select the appropriate ones
for their reading purposes.
1.3.2.2. Reading strategies
A wide range of reading strategies have been identified through research on successful
strategy teaching and the behaviors of expert readers. In their research, Janzen and Stoller
(1998:256) provided an excellent starting point for the strategy selection process in which
ten broadly applicable reading strategies are indicated:
- Identifying a purpose for reading
- Previewing

- Predicting
- Asking questions
- Checking predictions or finding an answer to a question
- Connecting text to background knowledge
- Summarizing
- Connecting one part of the text to another


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- Paying attention to text structure
- Rereading
Although the strategies listed above can be used with most students and most texts, the
teachers should consider their student characteristics, the demand of the text and the goals
of reading instruction to identify which of these suggested strategies may be most
appropriate for their students.
1.4. Summary
In order to be able to successfully design an ESP reading syllabus, a thorough
understanding of relevant major issues is undeniably essential. This chapter reviews the
major issues related to all basic aspects for designing an ESP reading syllabus, including
theories of ESP (definitions and types), theories of syllabus (definitions, types, approaches
to ESP syllabus design and steps in syllabus design) and theories of reading (reading in
ESP, reading skills and reading strategies). Besides, in this chapter, needs analysis is given
a great concern because it is the departure in ESP syllabus design. Hopefully, with the
relevant theories, an ESP reading syllabus will be successfully designed for the secondyear students of Business Administration.


15

CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY

2.1. Introduction
According to Nunan (1988) and Yalden (1983), needs analysis is considered as the starting
point in syllabus design. The goal of needs analysis is to collect information that can be
used to make decisions about the goals and content of a language course. This chapter will
present the needs analysis as the foundation for designing an appropriate ESP reading
syllabus for the second year students of Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1.
By means of questionnaires and interviews, the information was collected from the
teachers of the English group, the subject teachers, the target students and the ex-students.
Moreover, some situational factors such as the teaching and learning English program, the
learners‟ background, the teaching staff, resources and administrative constraints are also
analyzed in order to have a general view on the situation of learning and teaching English
for Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1 before designing an actual syllabus.
2.2. The teaching and learning English situation at the WTVC Number 1
Since 1995, General English (GE) has been taught at the WTVC Number 1. Nevertheless,
ESP was not brought into the school curriculum until the college was sponsored by the
Holland Government for upgrading projects in 2000. The students of all faculties learn the
same GE program in the same period of time but the students of different majors learn
different ESP courses. At present, the whole English curriculum for students of Business
Administration composes 2 stages:
-

Stage 1: Students learn 120 periods of GE in their first year with 60 periods
each term

-

Stage 2: Students learn 60 periods of ESP in the second year.

In the first stage, with the allocation of only 120 periods, both the teacher and the students
encounter many problems because they have to cover 20 units of the textbook “Let‟s study

English” by Do Tuan Minh. Due to the limited time, several writing, speaking and reading
tasks have to be omitted. Moreover, due to the poor facilities, hardly has the listening skill


16

been taught. If any, the tape script is read by the teachers. Besides, the teachers of the
English group rarely have formal discussion together to adapt the material or to find out a
suitable way to teach. Therefore, the result of the study is always unsatisfactory. However,
this is not the only reason. There are many other factors involved such as too crowded
class, students‟ low level of English, students‟ low motivation, their unsuitable learning
strategies and the poor input context of the college.
For the stage of ESP, the lack of teaching materials is the most serious problem. Without a
suitable program, the teachers have to collect and edit their own materials from the
published books or from the Internet. Not being carefully designed, these materials seem to
be too difficult for the students. Some topics are not relevant to their needs. Furthermore,
these materials do not provide teachers with additional exercises, tests or reviews. This
means that students have no opportunities to review by themselves and teachers must take
a lot of time to prepare reviews and tests. Obviously, the lack of an appropriate syllabus
has a bad effect on the teaching and learning process. Therefore, designing an ESP reading
syllabus, which is suitable for the students‟ ability, needs and interests, is an urgent task.
2.3. The target students
Students are the key participants in the curriculum development projects and it is essential
to collect as much information as possible about them before the project begins. The
relevant student factors include the students‟ background, preferable learning style and
motivation.
Background
The target students of the study are the second-year students of Business Administration at
the WTVC Number 1. They have already finished GE in their first year and it is important
to mention that when they learn the ESP course in the forth term of the second year, they

have just finished some Vietnamese professional subjects such as finance, accounting, the
theory of monetary, macro and micro economics, marketing, business management,
entrepreneur administration and so on. Therefore, they have got so much background
knowledge of the field.


17

These students are young, aged from 19 to 25; most of them are female. They come from
different parts of the country; most of them are from the countryside or remote areas, only
some are from towns or cities. This is the reason why their level of English is rather low. A
majority of the students cannot make even a simple sentence. In addition, many of them
can not pronounce English words correctly. Besides, the class is rather crowded, from 40
to 50 students in each class. With these problems, the teachers obviously have many
difficulties in meeting the needs of all students. Moreover, the time for learning English at
the college is not adequate. Accordingly, after one year of General English, the students‟
level of proficiency is still low compared to the requirement of the course. Being aware of
this problem is of great necessity for the researcher to design a suitable ESP syllabus.
Learning style
Another problem which needs to be considered is the typical learning style of students at
the WTVC number 1. They are a bit lazy and hardly ever try their best. They are too
familiar with the teacher-dominated methods with emphasis on grammar and vocabulary.
Consequently, most students remain passive in classroom. There is a common picture in
which a teacher is lecturing while students sitting afar, keeping silent and taking notes (if
any). It is also the case for the ESP learning among the second-year students at my college.
As a matter of fact, some students even prefer private work which was resulted from high
school experience, i.e. sitting quietly and working on their own. They do not feel
comfortable joining the class discussions. Another tendency in the study of the ESP at the
WTVC Number 1 is that students often turn to their first language while reading, which
can range from translation sentences by sentences into the mother tongue or working out

their own rules based on the first language. There is an urgent task that students‟ learning
styles and behaviors have to be changed by a good material accompanied with a
communicative teaching approach.
Motivation
In general, the students at the WTVC Number 1 are not interested in learning English.
They are not students of English, so they do not devote themselves to learning and they do
not know the way to learn a foreign language. However, the second-year students of
Business Administration at the WTVC Number 1 are more motivated, since they now


18

become aware of the significance of English, especially ESP, in their study as well as in
their future jobs. With good English competence, they have a better chance to find jobs
with high salary and good perspective for promotion.
2.4. The teaching staff of the English group
The teaching staff of the English section consists of 5 teachers, aged from 25 to 55. Two of
them are working toward an M.A degree, the others have Bachelor degree in English.
Because there are many English courses at the WTVC Number 1, all the teachers have to
teach both GE and ESP. Though most of them are experienced in teaching GE, none of
them have experience in teaching ESP and they have never taken any courses about ESP
teaching method. Moreover, when teaching ESP, the teachers of English do not have
sufficient knowledge about the specialist field. Therefore, it is difficult for them to
comprehend the subject matter. This problem is worse for the teachers of English at the
WTVC Number 1 because only 5 teachers have to teach different ESP courses to students
of 10 majors, which means that they have to deal with the specific knowledge of different
fields. In addition, because of the lack of suitable teaching materials written in English, the
teachers sometimes have to translate from the Vietnamese books, consult the subject
teachers and find materials from other sources to provide the learning materials for the
students.

2.5. The study
2.5.1. The subjects
Since the study aims at designing a syllabus for the second-year students of Business
Administration at the WTVC Number 1, the subjects involving in the study are 100
second-year students of Business Administration coming from two groups of this faculty.
These students have finished their Elementary English course at the WTVC number 1. In
addition, 3 ex-students of Business Administration, 5 teachers of the English group who
are to conduct the course and 5 subject teachers of Business Administration Faculty also
participated in the study.
2.5.2. Instruments for collecting data
The instruments for data collection adopted in this study are (1) questionnaires for the
teachers of the English group, (2) questionnaires for the students of Business