Nghiên cứu cơ sở ngôn ngữ của việc thiết kế chương trình tiếng Anh chuyên ngành cho sinh viên tiếng Anh quan hệ quốc tế năm thứ 3 Học viện Ngoại giao Việt Nam

HANOI NATIONAL UNIVERSITY
COLLEGE OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES
DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE STUDIES
***


NGUYỄN THỊ THÚY HẰNG


AN INVESTIGATION INTO LINGUISTIC BASES OF
DESIGNING AN ESP READING SYLLABUS FOR 3
RD
YEAR
STUDENTS OF ENGLISH FOR INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS
AT DIPLOMATIC ACADEMY OF VIETNAM

NGHIÊN CỨU CƠ SỞ NGÔN NGỮ CỦA VIỆC THIẾT KẾ
CHƯƠNG TRÌNH TIẾNG ANH CHUYÊN NGÀNH CHO SINH
VIÊN TIẾNG ANH QUAN HỆ QUỐC TẾ NĂM THỨ 3 HỌC
VIỆN NGOẠI GIAO VIỆT NAM





MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: Methodology
Field code: 601410

SUPERVISOR: Ass.Prof.Dr.TRAN HUU MANH



Hanoi - 2009



v
TABLE OF CONTENTS

DECLARATION
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
ABSTRACT
TABLE OF CONTENTS
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
Part I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
2. Aims and Objectives
3. Research Questions
5. Research methodology
6. The study is comprised of three parts
Part II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
1.1. An overview of discourse properties of international news

1.1.1. News
1.1.1.1. What is news?
1.1.1.2. International news
1.1.2. Discourse
1.1.2.1. Discourse and text
1.1.2.2. Discourse properties of international news
1.1.2.2.1. General structure
1.1.2.2.2. Linguistic features
1.2. A comparison of discourse properties of international news in English
and Vietnamese
1.2.1. General structure
1.2.1.1. The headline, the time, and source of information
1.2.1.2. The lead
1.2.1.3. The body
1.2.1.4. Optional news elements
1.2.2. Linguistic features
1.2.2.1. Lexical choice
1.2.2.2. Tense
1.2.2.3. Directness and indirectness
1.2.2.4. Syntactic structures
1.2.2.4.1. The headline
1.2.2.4.2. The lead and the body
1.2.2.4.3. Cohesion devices
1.3. An overview of ESP
1.3.1. Definition of ESP
1.3.2. Types of ESP
1.3.3. Principles of ESP course design
1.4. Approaches to language syllabus design
1.4.1. Defining syllabus
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1.4.2. Approaches to language syllabus design
1.4.2.1. The structural approach
1.4.2.2. The situational approach
1.4.2.3. The notional/functional approach
1.4.2.4. Procedural/task-based approaches
1.4.2.5. The proportional approach
.1.4.2.6. Learner-led approach
1.4.3. Types of ESP syllabus design
1.4.4. Steps in syllabus design
1.5. Reading
1.5.1. Definition of reading
1.5.2. Reading process
1.6. Summary
CHAPTER 2: THE STUDY
2.1. ESP teaching and learning at Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam (DAV)

2.2. The ESP teachers
2.3. The students
2.4. The study
2.4.1. The subjects
2.4.2. Instrument for collecting data
2.4.2.1. Questionnaire 1
2.4.2.2. Questionnaire 2
2.5. The findings
2.5.1. Needs perceived by the teachers of English
2.5.2.Needs perceived by the third-year students of Faculty of English
2.6. Summary
CHAPTER 3: DESIGNING AN APPROPRIATE ESP READING
SYLLABUS FOR 3
rd
– YEAR STUDENTS OF EIR
3.1.Objectives
3.2.Time allotment for the syllabus
3.3. Sequencing the content and the tasks in the syllabus
3.3.1. Topics in the syllabus
3.3.2. Reading skills and learning tasks
3.4. Suggestions for implementation of the proposed syllabus
3.4.1. To the teachers
3.4.2. To the students
3.4.3. To the future choice of materials
3.5. Summary
Part III: CONCLUSION
1. Summary of the thesis
2. Conclusion
3. Limitations of the thesis
4. Suggestions for further study

REFERENCE
APPENDICES
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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ESP: English for Special Purpose
DAV: Diplomatic Academy of Vietnam
EIR: English for International Relations
EST: English for Science and Technology
EBE: English for Business and Economics

ESS: English for Social Studies
ASEAN: Association of Southeast Asian Nations
EU: European Union
UN: United Nations
APEC: Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation

9



Part I: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
Nowadays, the ESP area proves to be in great demand for a global community of people
speaking different languages, where a good command of English can help to contribute to
professional as well as personal development of each individual learner. People with
good English proficiency are extensively needed in many areas, such as business,
banking, tourism, electronics, telecommunications, international relations, etc. ESP
therefore has become really necessary and an indispensable branch in English language
teaching in Vietnam to meet the growing demand for professional communication.
As we know, there are two parties involved in the implementation of any syllabus
program: teachers and learners. Basically, if the syllabus is to be designed realistically, its
contents must be coherent with the needs and expectations of the clients. Additionally,
the contents should be technically, physically, and mentally conceivable and able to be
implemented within the time allotted in the curriculum. These requirements, when
designing the ESP syllabus, in fact are still challenges for Vietnamese ESP teachers.
Students learning ESP in Vietnam rarely have opportunities to use English in
communication outside the classroom. They mainly have access to popular documents
written in English through reading. Hence, skills in reading English texts are naturally of

special importance in teaching and learning ESP, which is not an exception for the ESP
teaching at Vietnam Academy of Diplomacy (DAV).
The main objectives of ESP course is aimed at providing the students with linguistic
knowledge relevant to their field and skills up to the expectation of the future
employment. Since the establishment of the Section of English for International Relations
(EIR) in 2006 which is under the Faculty of English, no available course books are
appropriate for these target students.
Accordingly, designing an ESP reading syllabus for the third year students has been an
urgent task for the development of ESP teaching at learning at DAV.
2. Aims and Objectives
The study majorly aims at designing an appropriate ESP reading syllabus for students of
EIR at DAV. To achieve this aim, there are three specific objectives as follows:


10



- To develop a theoretical framework to design an appropriate syllabus for students
of EIR at Vietnam Academy of Diplomacy, taking into account the reality of ESP
teaching and learning as well as ESP learners at DAV.
- To conduct a Needs Analysis to identify the students’ learning situations and the
learning needs perceived by the ESP teachers, the third-year students of EIR at
DAV.
- To design a proposed ESP reading syllabus based on the analysis of the data
collected.
3. Research Questions
The following research questions were raised in order to attain the above-mentioned aims
and objectives of the study:
1. What are the reading needs of the ESP students of EIR at DAV?

2. What should be included in the syllabus?
The answers to these questions are to develop an appropriate ESP reading syllabus for the
students of in DAV. Moreover, basing on the results of the research questions, some
recommendations for designing an appropriate ESP reading syllabus for the students of
EIR at DAV, will be made to improve the quality of the ESP teaching and learning at
DAV.
4. Scope of the Study
Within its scope, this research paper mainly focuses on designing an ESP reading course
book for students of EIR at DAV. Its major objects are subject teachers, the teachers of
ESP, and the third-year students of EIR at DAV.
5. Research methodology
Both qualitative and quantitative methods are employed in this study. The quantitative
method, which is used to collect data by questionnaires, aims at exploring the needs of
the students, their expectations and opinions about the ESP course. The questionnaires
are administered to the third year student population studying ESP, teachers of ESP, as
well as subject teachers of EIR at DAV. The tackling methods are statistic, analytical and
synthetical. Also, the qualitative methods is used as the supporting method to collect
information for the study through the discussion with colleagues and students.
6. The study is comprised of three parts


11



Part I is an “Introduction” which presents the rationale, aims and objectives, research
questions, scope of the study, research questions, research methodology, as well as design
of the study.
Part II is the “Development” which consists of
- Chapter I, “Literature Review” reviews such the relevant theories as prominent

linguistic features of international news on papers, an overview of ESP,
approaches to language syllabus, reading, as well as previous studies.
- Chapter II, “The study” describes and comments on situation analysis, subjects of
the study, the instruments for collecting data, the theory of Needs Analysis and
the findings of the study resulting from a statistical analysis of the collected data.
- Chapter III presents some recommendations for “designing an ESP reading
syllabus for students at the EIR at DAV”.
Part III is the “Conclusion” which offers a summary of the study, limitations and
suggestions for further research.



















12

Part II: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
Introduction
The focus of this study is to design an ESP reading syllabus for the 3
rd
year students of
EIR at DAV who wish to gain fluency in reading and understanding English texts dealing
with international affairs such as inter-relations among countries, global issues, external
policies and political opinions toward other countries. Therefore, international news on
papers is mainly chosen as reading practice texts for intensive English courses at DAV.
Within this framework, this chapter deals with some concepts which set background for
the study. An overview of discourse properties of international news, a comparison of
discourse properties of international news in English and Vietnamese; an overview of
ESP; approaches to language syllabus design and an overview of reading will be given.
1.1. An overview of discourse properties of international news
1.1.1. News
1.1.1.1. What is news?
The notion of news is ambiguous. In everyday usage, we usually have the general notion
of news, meaning “new information”, as we find in such sentences as “I have good news
for you”. Apparently, the notion of news we are dealing with is different from the notion
of news, which involves the media. When asking: “Have you read the news?” or “Did
you watch the news? we refer to news as an item on newspapers or a television program.
Here are some definitions of news from dictionaries:
“News is new information about something that has happened recently or reports of
recent events”
(Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary, 7
th
impression 2005)

“News is:
- Recent events and happenings
- A report about recent events
- New information”
(American Heritage Dictionary, 5
th
impression 2006)
“News is:
- A report of events as given each day by newspaper, radio, etc.


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- Information which was not known before.”
(Globe Modern Dictionary, 4
th
impression 2003)
In a nutshell, the notion of news implies three aspects of news:
 New information about events, things or persons
 A program type (TV or radio) in which news items are presented
 A news report, i.e., a discourse on means of media in which new information is
given.
We concerned mostly with the third concept, in which news is considered a type of
discourse published on newspapers.
With this aspect of news, there is a famous cliché among journalists: when a dog bites
man, it’s not news; when man bites dog, that’s news. In other words, no readers want to
read about ordinary events.
1.1.1.2. International news

International news refers to news which focuses on international issues, which involve:
 Inter-relations among countries: official visits, economic cooperation, political
negotiations…
 Global issues: climate change, peace, conflict, international security…
 External policies and political opinions towards other countries.
1.1.2. Discourse
1.1.2.1. Discourse and text
The word discourse is used differently in different subject areas therefore; it is not an
easy term to define.
Brown and Yule (1983) define text as “the verbal record of communication act” and
discourse as “the language in use”
Widdowson (1984:24) reckons that “discourse is a communicative process by means of
interaction. Its situational outcome is a change in a state of affairs: information is
conveyed, invention is made clear, its linguistic product is text”
There is another approach developed by Halliday and Hasan (1976), who use discourse in
relation to text. These two researchers claim that a text (discourse) is a unit of meaning. It
is the language that is functional and has meaning in context of situation. It is realized by
a word, a phrase, a sentence, a cluster of sentences, or even a book, etc…


14



According to them, text (discourse): can be defined in the simplest way perhaps by saying
that it is language that is functional.[…]. So any instance of living language that is
playing some part in a context of situation, we shall call a text. It may be either spoken or
written or indeed in other medium of expression that we like to think of.
(Halliday and Hasan 1989:10)
This thesis will follow the view of Halliday and Hasan, considering discourse and text the

interchangeable terms.
1.1.2.2. Discourse properties of international news
1.1.2.2.1. General structure
Headline, lead, and body are considered crucial elements structuring international news.
Besides, there are supplementary or optional factors (the time, name of reporter, sub-
headlines, or non-linguistic features)
1.1.1.2.2.1. The headline
Headlines for news in general are important, headlines for international news are much
more important. They perform the following two functions:
 As a communicative device: The headline is the most concise summary or the
whole news. By looking at the headline, readers can understand the main content
and the main information addressed in the news.
 As a navigation device: It is possible to say that the headline is the bridge leading
readers to the full story. It puts the first impression on the readers and encourages
them to read for more information.
1.1.1.2.2.2. Date, time of releasing the news
The news content may change as soon as the news is posted. Identifying the time and
date of releasing the news is accordingly very important and beneficial to the readers.
1.1.1.2.2.3. Source of information
The name of the writer, the reporter or name of any news corporation that published the
news is always clearly asserted. Sometimes readers can refer to the reporters to find out
more about the news.
1.1.1.2.2.4. The lead
The international news leads often start with location where the events take place. One
important factor of news is proximity. An event will be more important if it is related to


15

the readers. A conflict in a far-off land is not as interesting as one that is close to home.
International news covers all areas in the world, so providing information about the
location is very useful for readers.
The lead provides the hook to get readers interested in the story. It expands on the story’s
main point as introduced in the headline. Basically, news is variations of “something
happened”. The lead’s function is to straightforwardly tell readers what the “something
happened” is. In terms of content, the lead captures the essence of the whole news, or it
summarizes the news to draw the readers in.
The lead sets the structure for the rest of the story. If the lead is good, the rest of the story
comes together easily.
Functioning as exciting hooks for readers, the leads must be very informative and long
enough to load the most newsworthy aspect of the events. They are supposed to give brief
answers to all the key questions: WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN, WHY and HOW. For
example:
Mrs. Clinton yesterday came to St.Louis, Missouri to seek support for the election by
participating in a campaign.
(The economist-26/10/2007)







1.1.1.2.2.5. The body
The headline and lead usually raise more questions than answer. People generally find
out what happened and one or two prominent details, but if they are interested in the
subject they will want to know much more and ask such questions such: When? Where?
Why? How? What effects? What significane?

If the headline and the lead are attracting enough and they decide to continue reading, the
body of the news is where they find detailed information. The primary and the most
WHO
Mrs. Clinton
WHEN
Yesterday
WHAT
came
WHERE
to St.Louis, Missouri
WHY
to seek support for the election
HOW
by participating in a campaign


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prevailing function of news body is to narrate the event. While doing so, it gradually
gives answers to all possible questions related to the event: WHAT, WHO, WHERE,
WHEN, WHY, and HOW.
Basically, the body will give readers three kinds of information:
- details of the events, by answering three kinds of information
- comments from people involved in the story
- background information to help you understand the story more deepl
1.1.1.2.2.6. Optional news elements
- Non-linguistic features: photographs besides the news makes the news mor attractive
and informative.

- Sub-headlines: not all news has sub-headlines. Sub-headlines are considered the hooks
that facilitate the readers’ information memorizing.
1.1.2.2.2. Linguistic features
1.1.2.2.2.1. Lexical choice
Generally speaking, popular words are preferred, which ensures that everyone across the
world can read and understand it. By using uncomplicated words, not only the
information is provided clearly and exactly but also the readers’ capacity of getting the
content will obviously increase. If the reporters make all efforts to think of too cute words
to transfer their ideas, users may encounter difficulties in picking up the meaning of the
text.
The international news covers all issues on the world: politics, economy, religion, health,
education… Hereafter, there appear many term words of certain fields, relying on the
main topic of the news.
The neutral language is also employed in international news because international issues
are very sensitive. Press has unimaginably strong impact. The relationship between
countries may be influenced by just an unfriendly opinion revealed in the news. Thus,
reporters try to avoid words expressing their personal viewpoints in international news,
only present the fact of the event. Metaphors and modal auxiliaries are rarely found partly
because these kinds of words, to some extent, can reflect the writer’s personal opinions.
One feature of international news is that puns absolutely do not work.
1.1.2.2.2.2. Tense


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The simple present tense is the most popular form of verbs in international news, in spite
of the fact that the news may describe something that is happening, something that
happens repeatedly, even something that happened already or something that is going to

happen in the near future. The present tense gives the subject a sense of freshness and
immediately, making it more interesting to read. This grammatical phenomenon often
appears in the headlines. In the news lead and news bodies, verb tenses are used with the
consideration of happening time of the event.
1.1.2.2.2.3. Directness and indirectness
To meet the requirement of direct, attractive, and true to the news content, the direct and
indirect speeches are essential to news. The use of directness and indirectness in
international news can be classified into three types:
- Direct quotations: represent word-for-word what the speaker said. Such quote
are exact words of a source written in complete sentences and are endorsed in
quotation marks.
- Partial quotations: are mixtures of direct and indirect quotes. They may also be
referred to as modified or fragmentary quotation.
- Indirect quotations: represent more or less what the speaker said, but without
using quotation marks. The speakers’ idea are presented mainly but not entirely
his own words.
1.1.2.2.2.3. Sentence patterns
When analyzing sentence patterns of international news, we need to look closer at three
segments of news. The reason is that in each level of the news, the sentence patterns vary
in order to perform the certain task.
- The headline: Generally, a headline may be formed from a word, a phrase, a
sentence fragment or a sentence.
- The lead: Taking with them a lot of information, leads apparently cannot have
forms of phrases or fragments as the headlines. Instead, in terms of grammatical
structure, all of them are sentences. More specifically, the leads are always
complex sentences due to the heavy task o transferring core information of the
events.


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- The body: Like the leads, most of sentences in the news body are complex
sentences.
1.1.2.2.2.4. Cohesion devices
Cohesion devices in the news may be anything from one word to a complete sentence:
 Single words: for, also, finally, furthermore, meanwhile…
 Synonyms
 Phrases: on the other hand, in response, in addition…
 Sentences: A second factor needs to be considered…
 Repeated key words, especially key words from the headline or key words from
the preceding paragraphs.
1.2. A comparison of discourse properties of international news in English and
Vietnamese
1.2.1. General structure
In general, there is no big difference in overall generic structure of international news
between Vietnamese and English, because they are of the same genre. They all have to
comply with basic principles of general news.
1.2.1.1. The headline, the time, and source of information
Headlines in English are always the first part of the news. In Vietnamese, it is flexible
whether the headline or the time and date come first.
Headlines in English are followed by name of the reporter or source of information. This
is not the same as in Vietnamese in which the name of reporters or source of information
often stands at the end of the news.
1.2.1.2. The lead
Leads in English often start with location. Meanwhile, there is no location identified at
the beginning of leads in Vietnamese.
Performing the same functions as the lead of international news in English, leads in
Vietnamese are also supposed to be answer to the six key questions: WHAT, WHO,

WHERE, WHEN, WHY, and HOW.
News leads in English and Vietnamese share a common feature that none of them
provides answer to only one question.
1.2.1.3. The body


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Generally speaking, the body structure of international news in Vietnamese is similar to
that in English. However, while most paragraphs in English contain only one sentence,
the majority of paragraphs in Vietnamese are composed of two or three sentences of the
same idea.
Unlike international news in English, one-sentence paragraphs with limited numbers of
clause are not popular in Vietnamese. This facilitates the Vietnamese readers in
simplifying the information so that they feel the most understandable. For example:
Theo tin nước ngoài, ngày 4-6, Tổng thống Ấn Ðộ Pratibha Patil đã trình bày trước QH
những chính sách của Chính phủ do Ðảng Quốc đại đứng đầu, theo đó cam kết sẽ phục
hồi tốc độ tăng trưởng kinh tế và giúp hàng triệu người nghèo bằng các khoản chi nhiều
hơn cũng như các chương trình xã hội rộng mở hơn.
(Nhân dân-2/6/2009)
Bodies of international news in Vietnamese also compy to the inverted pyramid structure
with the information is sequenced basing on the level of importance. For example:
Theo Reuters, ngày 2-6 tại cuộc họp báo ở Thủ đô Santiago, Bộ trưởng Y tế Chile Alvaro
Erazo cho biết, anh Ph.V.Man-đô-na-đô, 37 tuổi đã chết tại phía nam TP Pu-ê-tô Mon vì
vi-rút cúm A (H1N1).
Ðây là ca tử vong đầu tiên ở Chile do dịch cúm A (H1N1) gây nên và Chile là nước có
người chết đầu tiên vì cúm A (H1N1) ở Nam Mỹ. Ngày 3-6, A-rập Xê-út xác nhận người
nhiễm vi-rút cúm A (H1N1) ở nước này. Bệnh nhân là một phụ nữ đến A-rập Xê-út ngày

29-5 vừa qua từ Philippines trên chuyến bay của hãng hàng không vùng Vịnh và có triệu
chứng cúm A (H1N1) ngày 1-6. Nhà cầm quyền A-rập Xê-út đang theo dõi những người
tiếp xúc với phụ nữ này trong chuyến bay. Cùng ngày, Australia đã nâng cấp báo động
cúm A (H1N1) ở Victoria, bang có số người bị nhiễm vi-rút cúm A (H1N1) nhiều nhất ở
nước này. Theo tổ chức Y tế thế giới (WHO), đến nay có gần 19.000 người bị nhiễm cúm
A (H1N1) ở 64 nước và vùng lãnh thổ và đã có 117 người chết.
(Lao động-5/6/2009)
1.2.1.4. Optional news elements
Like the English international news, the Vietnamese one also consists of some optional
factors such as the sub-headlines or non-linguistic features.
1.2.2. Linguistic features
1.2.2.1. Lexical choice
One crucial difference of international news between English and Vietnamese in terms of
readers is: while English international news is read by people worldwide, Vietnamese one
has more limited number of audience, who is only from Vietnam or know Vietnamese.


20



This decisive characteristic makes the linguistic features of international news in
Vietnamese definitely not the same as its English counterpart.
The most striking difference in terms of lexical choice between Vietnamese and English
is the level of objectiveness and neutral language from the writers. Reporters of English
international news always try to avoid expressing their own opinions. On the other hand,
we can see a lot of ways using rhetoric in international news in Vietnamese, which may
be inferred as the reporters’ point of view. For example:
Người Mỹ “ngán” hàng Trung Quốc
(Thanh niên-30/6/2007)

Instead of using a more neutral verb: do not like, or không thích in Vietnamese, the
reporter chose the word “ngán” (English equivalent: be fed up with), which really
conveys more than do not like.
Rhetorical speech is often used in the headlines in order to attract readers. This different
between Vietnamese and English international news may result from the different scale
of impact. Vietnamese international news has restricted scale of influence, and English
international news have much wider scale. Moreover, it may also be affected by the
subjectiveness, which is nature of Vietnamese thinking.
However, there still exist similarities in terms of lexical choice between Vietnamese and
English international news. That is the use of popular and comprehensible words. Also,
the international news in Vietnamese covers all issues: politics, economy, religion,
lifestyles, health, education… So, like English international news, many term words of
certain fields, relying on the main topic of the news are applied. For example:
Political news:
Từ ngày 4 đến 7-6 sẽ diễn ra cuộc bầu cử Nghị viện châu Âu tại 27 nước thành viên Liên
hiệp châu Âu (EU). Nghị viện châu Âu là một trong ba thể chế chính của EU và có vai
trò đại diện cho các quyền lợi của công dân EU. Hai thể chế chính khác là Hội đồng Liên
hiệp châu Âu và Ủy ban châu Âu (EC).
(Thanh niên-30/6/2008)
Economic news:
Theo Tân Hoa xã, ngày 2-6 đại diện Ðảng CS Trung Quốc (CPC) và phái đoàn Ðảng
Nước Nga Thống nhất (URP), cầm quyền tại LB Nga đã có cuộc gặp tại Bắc Kinh để trao
đổi ý kiến về cuộc khủng hoảng tài chính quốc tế.


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(Nhân dân-2/6/2007)

1.2.2.2. Tense
The tenses in Vietnamese are not expressed via the conjugation of verbs like in English.
Instead, the using of words such as đã, đang, sẽ and time expression like hôm qua, hôm
nay, tuần sau…will help to determine the Vietnamese tenses.
In the English international news, the time of happenings is only clearly claimed in the
news body, but present simple tense is applied with headline because that is the most
concise way to convey key information. By contrast, tenses in Vietnamese international
news are identified very straightforwardly, even in the headlines. For example:
Kinh tế thế giới có thể sẽ phục hồi vào năm 2010.
(Nhân dân-17/5/2009)
1.2.2.3. Directness and indirectness
Similar to international news in English, directness and indirectness appear in all news in
Vietnamese in three main types:
- Direct quotations
- Partial quotations
- Indirect quotations
1.2.2.4. Syntactic structures
1.2.2.4.1. The headline
News headlines in Vietnamese international news are shaped from either phrases or
sentences.Like international news in English, there is no headline in Vietnamese made up
from a word.
- The headline as a phrase
Most of headlines in English international news are noun phrases. In the case of
Vietnamese international news, phrase headlines are flexibly applied, mainly with two
types: noun phrases and verb phrases. Besides, adjective phrases and prepositional
phrases are sometimes resorted.
There are more noun phrases employed than other types because noun phrases are the
most suitable to state new information. Looking back to the structure of noun phrases we
mentioned in the previous section, we wee that Vietnamese noun phrases have no pre-

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modification. The head nouns, therefore, stand initially and are usually followed by post-
modification. In the below examples, the head nouns are underlined:
Bão táp giữa chính trường Israel
(Lao động-13/7/2007)
International news in Vietnamese also use verb phrases as headlines. Nouns serve as the
heads in noun phrase, and similarly, verb phrases have verbs as the heads. Head verbs in
Vietnamese international news are also placed at the beginning of the phrase. Take the
following phrases as illustrations, in which the head verbs are underlined:
Trợ giúp nông nghiệp trong cơn khủng hoảng.
(Lao động-10/7/2008)
Thực hành tiết kiệm theo lời Bác Hồ dạy.
(Lao động-10/7/2008)
Prepositional phrases are occasionally used as headlines in Vietnamese international
news. For example:
Bên trong chợ thuốc phiện Afghanistan
(Vietnamnet-30/8/2007)
- The headline as a sentence
Like international news in English, sentence headlines are still the most pervasive in
Vietnamese international news because they take along the amount of information that is
sufficient enough for readers to continue with the rest of news.
As for the four types of sentences that Quirk (1973:191) points out (statement, question,
command and exclamation), almost no command and exclamation sentences are used as
headlines in Vietnamese international news. Statement headlines are commonly used in
both Vietnamese and English international news.
Comparing the appearance of simple sentences and complex sentences as headlines

unveils a fact that simple sentences are more popular. This is the similarity between
English and Vietnamese international news.
Analyzing simple sentence headlines in Vietnamese international news indicate that there
are plenty of sentence structures used. Like international news in English international
news, SVO and SVA are of the most priority compared to the other types. For example:
SVO:


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Nhật, Mỹ chia sẻ công nghệ quốc phòng
(Thanh niên-17/6/2007)
SVA:
Sinh viên Nhật bị bắt cóc ở Iran
(Vietnamnet-10/10/2007)
The structure SV is of the least preference, because it provides the least information to
readers. For example:
SV:
Liên Xô trở lại
(Thanh niên -23/8/2007)
There is no big difference in the use of the other sentence structures in the headlines in
Vietnamese international news such as SVC, SVOA, SVOC or SVOO.
1.2.2.2. The lead and the body
In terms of sentence types, leads and bodies of international news in Vietnamese also
engage the complex sentences rather than the simple ones. For example:
Người phát ngôn Bộ Ngoại giao Iran Mohammad Ali Hoseini hôm qua đã lên án quyết
định của Anh phong tước hiệp sĩ cho nhà văn Salman Rushdie.
(Nhân dân-17/6/2007)

1.2.2.5. Cohesive devices
Like English interntional news, the mostly used cohesion device is repetitions of the key
words which are presented in the headlines. Take a news in Vietnamese as an illustration
for the use of cohesive devices:
The headline: Taliban tuyên bố sẽ định đoạt số phận 21 con tin Hàn Quốc vào trưa 1.8.
Key words from the headlines: Taliban, 21 con tin Hàn Quốc, trưa 1.8
In the lead, those key words are repeated. The bold adverb “sau khi” helps to connect the
two clauses of the sentence:
Nỗ lực giải cứu những người Hàn Quốc bị các tay súng Taliban cầm giữ tại Afghanistan
đã trở nên cấp bách hơn bao giờ hết vào hôm 31.7, sau khi Taliban hạ sát con tin thứ hai
và đặt thời hạn chót mới cho số phận của 21 con tin còn lại.




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1.3. An overview of ESP
1.3.1. Definition of ESP
From the early 1960's, English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has grown to become one of
the most prominent areas of EFL teaching today and it has been defined differently by
different authors. Some people described ESP as simply being the teaching of English for
any purpose that could be specified. Others, however, were more precise, describing it as
the teaching of English used in academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational
or professional purposes. In 1997, at a Japan conference on ESP Tony Dudley-Evans
gave an extended definition of ESP in terms of its 'absolute' and 'variable' characteristics.
Absolute Characteristics
1. ESP is defined to meet specific needs of the learners

2. ESP makes use of underlying methodology and activities of the discipline it serves
3. ESP is centered on the language appropriate to these activities in terms of grammar,
lexis, register, study skills, discourse and genre.
Variable Characteristics
1. ESP may be related to or designed for specific disciplines
2. ESP may use, in specific teaching situations, a different methodology from that of
General English
3. ESP is likely to be designed for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in
a professional work situation. It could, however, be for learners at secondary school level
4. ESP is generally designed for intermediate or advanced students.
5. Most ESP courses assume some basic knowledge of the language systems
(Dudley-Evans, 1997)
The definition Dudley-Evans offers is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988),
although he has improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that
ESP is "in contrast with General English" (Johns et al., 1991: 298), and has included
more variable characteristics. The division of ESP into absolute and variable
characteristics, in particular, is very helpful in resolving arguments about what is and is


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not ESP. From the definition, we can see that ESP can but is not necessarily concerned
with a specific discipline, nor does it have to be aimed at a certain age group or ability
range. ESP should be seen simple as an 'approach' to teaching, or what Dudley-Evans
describes as an 'attitude of mind'. This is a similar conclusion to that made by Hutchinson
et al. (1987:19) who state, "ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all
decisions as to content and method are based on the learner's reason for vocational or
professional purposes.

1.3.2. Types of ESP
David Carter (1983) identifies three types of ESP:
 English as a restricted language
 English for Academic and Occupational Purposes
 English with specific topics.
The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples of English as a
restricted language. Mackay and Mountford (1978) clearly illustrate the difference
between restricted language and language with this statement:
“ the language of international air-traffic control could be regarded as 'special', in the
sense that the repertoire required by the controller is strictly limited and can be accurately
determined situationally, as might be the linguistic needs of a dining-room waiter or air-
hostess. However, such restricted repertoires are not languages, just as a tourist phrase
book is not grammar. Knowing a restricted 'language' would not allow the speaker to
communicate effectively in novel situation or in contexts outside the vocational
environment”.
The second type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English for Academic and
Occupational Purposes. In the 'Tree of ELT' (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), ESP is broken
down into three branches: a) English for Science and Technology (EST), b) English for
Business and Economics (EBE), and c) English for Social Studies (ESS).
The third type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English with specific topics. “This
type of ESP is concerned with self-direction”. (Carter, 1983, p. 134). In order for self-
direction to occur, the learners must have a certain degree of freedom to decide when,


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what, and how they will study. Carter (1983) also adds that there must be a systematic
attempt by teachers to teach the learners how to learn by teaching them about learning

strategies.
1.3.3. Principles of ESP course design
In designing an ESP course it is imperative to carryout a needs analysis to determine the
specific reasons for learning the language (Hutchinson, and Waters, 1987) or to specify
exactly, what students need to achieve through the medium of English (Robinson, 1991).
According to Nunan, “techniques and procedures for collecting information to be used in
syllabus design are referred to as a needs analysis” (Nunan, 1988: 13). In more formal
terms a needs analysis is “the process of determining the needs for which a learner or
group of learners requires a language and arranging the needs according to priorities”
(Richards, and Platt, 1992:242).
Before designing a course, it is very important to know why the learners are taking the
course and how they will apply that learning. Also “English language teachers should
know what kind of tasks and activities learners will be using English for” (Kandil,
2003:134). (Hutchinson and Waters,1987:59) suggested the following questions as a
start-point to uncover relevant information: Why is the language needed?; How will the
language be used?; What will the content areas be?; Who will the learners use the
language with?; When/Where will the language be used?
(Hutchinson and Waters,1987:21) also put forward a point that “designing a course is
fundamentally a matter of asking questions in order to provide a reasoned basis for the
subsequent processes of syllabus design, materials writing, classroom teaching and
evaluation.” These basic questions are as follows: Who are the learners?; Why are the
learners taking the course?; How do the learners learn?; What resources are available?;
When/Where will the course take place?; What level of proficiency must be achieved?;
What kind of methodology will be employed?; How much time is available?.
Also, the key elements which are the initial planning procedure, the content selection
and gradation, the methodology, and the evaluation in the procedures of designing any
language course syllabus are also applied to an ESP course.


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All of these principles of ESP course design will be applied to the process of designing
the ESP course in my thesis.
1.4. Approaches to language syllabus design
1.4.1. Defining syllabus
A syllabus is an expression of opinion on the nature of language and learning; it acts as a
guide for both teacher and learner by providing some goals to be attained. Hutchinson
and Waters (1987:80) define syllabus as follows: “At its simplest level a syllabus can be
described as a statement of what is to be learnt or it reflects language and linguistic
performance”.
This is a rather traditional interpretation of syllabus focusing as it does on outcomes
rather than process. However, a syllabus can also be seen as a "summary of the content to
which learners will be exposed" (Yalden,1987: 87). It is seen as an approximation of
what will be taught and that it cannot accurately predict what will be learnt.
1.4.2. Approaches to language syllabus design
Various types of approaches are available to course designers and the fact shows that
the focus of syllabuses has shifted from structure to situations, functions and notions to
topics and tasks.
1.4.2.1. The structural approach
Historically, the most prevalent of syllabus type is perhaps the grammatical syllabus in
which the selection and grading of the content is based on the complexity and simplicity
of grammatical items. The learner is expected to master each structural step and add it to
her grammar collection. As such the focus is on the outcomes or the product.
1.4.2.2. The situational approach
By linking structural theory to situations, the learner is able to induce the meaning from a
relevant context. One advantage of the situational approach is that motivation will be
heightened since it is "learner- rather than subject-centered" (Wilkins,1976:16). However,
a situational syllabus will be limited for students whose needs were not encompassed by

the situations in the syllabus.
1.4.2.3. The notional/functional approach


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In order to establish objectives, the needs of the learners will have to be analyzed by the
various types of communication in which the learner has to confront. Consequently,
needs analysis has an association with notional-functional syllabuses. Although needs
analysis implies a focus on the learner, critics of this approach suggest that a new list has
replaced the old one. Where once structural/situational items were used a new list
consisting of notions and functions has become the main focus in a syllabus. White
(1988:77) claims that "language functions do not usually occur in isolation" and there are
also difficulties of selecting and grading function and form. Clearly, the task of deciding
whether a given function (i.e. persuading), is easier or more difficult than another (i.e.
approving), makes the task harder to approach.
1.4.2.4. Procedural/task-based approaches
A task-based approach assumes that speaking a language is a skill best perfected through
practice and interaction, and uses tasks and activities to encourage learners to use the
language communicatively in order to achieve a purpose. Tasks must be relevant to the
real world language needs of the student. That is, the underlying learning theory of task
based and communicative language teaching seems to suggest that activities in which
language is employed to complete meaningful tasks, enhances learning.
1.4.2.5. The proportional approach
The proportional syllabus basically attempts to develop an "overall competence". It
consists of a number of elements with theme playing a linking role through the units. This
theme is designated by the learners. It is expected initially that form will be of central
value, but later, the focus will veer towards interactional components ; the syllabus is

designed to be dynamic, not static, with ample opportunity for feedback and flexibility.
1.4.2.6. Learner-led approach
The notion of basing an approach on how learners learn was proposed by Breen and
Candlin (1984). Here the emphasis lays with the learner, who it is hoped will be involved
in the implementation of the syllabus design as far as that is practically possible. By


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being fully aware of the course they are studying it is believed that their interest and
motivation will increase, coupled with the positive effect of nurturing the skills required
1.4.3. Types of ESP syllabus design
According to Nunan, although six different types of language teaching syllabi are treated
here as they each occur "purely," in practice, these types rarely occur independently of
each other. For a given course, one type of syllabus usually dominates, while other types
of content may be combined with it. Furthermore, the six types of syllabi are not entirely
distinct from each other. For example, the distinction between skill-based and task-based
syllabi may be minimal. In such cases, the distinguishing factor is often the way in which
the instructional content is used in the actual teaching procedure. The characteristics,
differences, strengths, and weaknesses of individual syllabi are defined as follows:
1. "A structural (formal) syllabus." The content of language teaching is a collection of the
forms and structures, usually grammatical, of the language being taught. Examples
include nouns, verbs, adjectives, statements, questions, subordinate clauses, and so on.
2. "A notional/functional syllabus." The content of the language teaching is a collection
of the functions that are performed when language is used, or of the notions that language
is used to express. Examples of functions include: informing, agreeing, apologizing,
requesting; examples of notions include size, age, color, comparison, time, and so on.
3. "A situational syllabus." The content of language teaching is a collection of real or

imaginary situations in which language occurs or is used. A situation usually involves
several participants who are engaged in some activity in a specific setting. The language
occurring in the situation involves a number of functions, combined into a plausible
segment of discourse. The primary purpose of a situational language teaching syllabus is
to teach the language that occurs in the situations. Examples of situations include: seeing
the dentist, complaining to the landlord, buying a book at the book store, meeting a new
student, and so on.
4. "A skill-based syllabus." The content of the language teaching is a collection of
specific abilities that may play a part in using language. Skills are things that people must