Sử dụng thủ thuật dịch vào việc dạy từ vựng chuyên ngành cho sinh viên nghề năm thứ hai tại trường Đại học Công nghiệp thành phố Hồ Chí Minh – Cơ sở Thanh Hóa

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


NGUYỄN NGỌC HẢI


USING TRANSLATION TO TEACH TECHNICAL VOCABULARY
TO THE 2
ND
YEAR VOCATIONAL STUDENTS AT INDUSTRIAL
UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY – THANH HOA BRANCH

Sử dụng thủ thuật dịch vào việc dạy từ vựng chuyên ngành cho sinh viên
nghề năm thứ hai tại trường Đại học Công nghiệp thành phố Hồ Chí
Minh – Cơ sở Thanh Hóa


M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60140111

Hanoi, 2014


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


NGUYỄN NGỌC HẢI


USING TRANSLATION TO TEACH TECHNICAL VOCABULARY
TO THE 2
ND
YEAR VOCATIONAL STUDENTS AT INDUSTRIAL
UNIVERSITY OF HO CHI MINH CITY – THANH HOA BRANCH

Sử dụng thủ thuật dịch vào việc dạy từ vựng chuyên ngành cho sinh viên
nghề năm thứ hai tại trường Đại học Công nghiệp thành phố Hồ Chí
Minh – Cơ sở Thanh Hóa


M.A MINOR PROGRAMME THESIS

FIELD: ENGLISH TEACHING METHODOLOGY
CODE: 60140111
SUPERVISOR: Associate Professor, Dr. Lê Hùng Tiến

Hanoi, 2014


i
DECLARATION

This thesis is submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of
Master of Education. I certify that the thesis is the report of my own research, and
that it has not been submitted for any other university or institution.


Thanh Hoa, September, 2014


Nguyen Ngoc Hai

ii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS


First and foremost, I would like to express my gratitude to Dr. Le Hung Tien - my
supervisor for his invaluable advice, constructive criticism, precious correction and
helpful encouragement in the completion of my minor thesis.
My thanks also go to all of the lecturers and the staff of the Department of Post-
Graduate Studies at University of Languages and International Studies, Vietnam
National University, Hanoi for their valuable lectures and supports.
I am also thankful to all the English teachers and students at Industrial University of
Ho Chi Minh city (IUH)  Thanh Hoa branch for answering the questionnaires and
interviews, which are indispensable for the analysis and discussion in my study.
Last but not least, I greatly appreciate the support and encouragement from my
family and friends.

iii
ABSTRACT
This research was done to investigate the use of Vietnamese translation in
vocabulary teaching and learning process. This action research is aimed at finding
out the         
translation in teaching and learning vocabulary at Industrial University of Ho Chi
Minh City  Thanh Hoa branch. The study focuses on issues (1) the difficulties
encountered by English teachers as well as the second year vocational students at
IUH – Thanh Hoa Branch when teaching and learning technical vocabulary. (2)
Exploring translation used in teaching technical vocabulary for the second year
vocational students at IUH – Thanh Hoa Branch. (3) Investigating how far
translation improves teaching and learning technical vocabulary for the second
year vocational students at IUH – Thanh Hoa Branch. This study involves the
participants of 170 second  year vocational students who are in their first semester
at IUH. The data was collected by a number of instruments including questionnaire

the study reveals that there exist some difficulties in teaching technical vocabulary
to second-year vocational students at IHU. However, the majority of respondents
confirm that Vietnamese translation technique is an efficient method. Vietnamese
translation has big attributions in diminishing the difficulties in teaching technical
vocabulary to second-year vocational students at IHU

iv
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, AND CHARTS
Charts

vocabulary
abulary
commonly used techniques
 comments on technical vocabulary in the course book
Chart 5: 
ways of learning technical English vocabulary
Chart 7: St
Chart 9: 
their vocabulary learning
        
them to learn vocabulary
Chart 11: Effect of using Vietnamese translation on the class atmosphere
Chart 12: Problems faced by students in learning vocabulary through Vietnamese
translation


Tables
Table 8: Studen       
vocabulary lessons.

v
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
ESP: English for specific purposes course
GE: General English
IUH : Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city

vi
TABLE OF CONTENTS
DECLARATION i
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii
ABSTRACT iii
LIST OF FIGURES, TABLES, AND CHARTS iv
LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS v
TABLE OF CONTENTS vi
PART A: INTRODUCTION 1
1. Rationale of the study 1
2. Aims of the study 2
3. Research questions 2
4. Significance of the study 3
5. Scope of the study 3
6. Methods of the study 3
7. Design of the study 4
PART B: DEVELOPMENT 5
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW 5
1. Theoretical background of technical vocabulary 5
1.1. Definition of technical words 5
1. 2. Classification of technical words 5
1.3. Approaches to Technical Vocabulary Teaching 7
2. Theoretical background of L1 and Translation 8
2.1. Definition of translation 8
2.2. Function of Translation 9
2.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using L1 Translation in Teaching

Vocabulary 10
3. Previous Studies on L1 Translation in Teaching L2 Vocabulary 11
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY 13
2.1. Rationale for the use of a survey research 13


vii
2.2. Context of the study 13
2.2.1. Textbook 13
2.2.2. Students 14
2.2.3. Teachers 15
2.3. Instruments 16
2.3.1. Interviews 16
2.3.2. Questionnaires 16
2.4. Data collection 16
2.5. Chapter summary 17
CHAPTER 3: DATA ANALYSIS, FINDINGS AND DISCUSSIONS 18
3.1. Findings from questionnaires 18
g technical
vocabulary 18
 19
 20
 21
on use in technical vocabulary
lessons. 25
3.2. Further findings from informal interview with teachers 39
PART C: CONCLUSION 33
1. Summary of major findings 33
2. Concluding remarks 34
3 .Limitations and suggestions for further study 35

REFERENCES 37
APPENDIX I


1
PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study

English for specific purposes course (ESP) is new trend in English Language
Teaching and the demand of learning ESP has been nationwide. Due to the social
needs, ESP is taught in almost universities, colleges and vocational schools. Most of
universities offer course in ESP after General English (GE) during the basic years.
Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city (IUH)  Thanh Hoa branch is a typical
example of the training institution that combines ESP within its current English
teaching situation in response to the demand for specific language learning target.
ESP in IUH includes technical English, scientific English, English for medical
professionals, English for waiters, and English for tourism.

Vocabulary learning and teaching is very important in learning English;
nevertheless, vocabulary was a neglected area in foreign language teaching for a
number of years.I myself have experienced 4 years of working as a teacher of
English at IUH  Thanh Hoa Branch. Up to now, I find that teaching and learning
ESP, particularly teaching and learning vocabulary has still been far from
satisfactory. With many similar characteristics and a number of different features in
comparison with General English, Teaching ESP vocabulary is viewed as
something hard to teach for language teachers. Furthermore, most of students here
find learning ESP vocabulary is the most challenging to them in acquiring English.
Their biggest obstacle in learning ESP vocabulary is that it is difficult for them to
identify the meaning of, to understand the use of and to remember the words
belonging to technical terms.

Recently a lot of attention has been given to vocabulary. English teachers are being
trained in using modern methods of English teaching. Old teaching methods are
rapidly being replaced with modern ones. However, among various kinds of


2
techniques, I would like to add the debate by discussing the usefulness of translation
in teaching ESP vocabulary. Of course, translation has been given a bad name in
modern language teaching. In the past, the prevalence of grammar  translation
method led to an extraordinary phenomenon: students were unable to speak fluently
after having studied the language for a long time. For this reason, translation has
        
(Duff,1994). Recently there has been a revival of interest to translation due to the
shift of its emphasis  to using a mother tongue as a resource for promotion of
language learning. Translation method develops three qualities essential to any
language learning: accuracy, clarity, and flexibility (Duff, 1994). Therefore,
translation can serve as a good tool for improving language skills, especially in
teaching ESP vocabulary.

The facts above explain the reasons why I carried out this study entitled, Using
translation to teach technical vocabulary to the 2
nd
year vocationl students at
Industrial University of Ho Chi Minh city – Thanh Hoa Branch”. The author does
hope that this research will help the teachers in some ways to find appropriate
teaching method to improve technical vocabulary for their students.
2. Aims of the study
This study is aimed at:
- Exploring the usage of translation in teaching technical vocabulary for the second

year vocational students at IUH  Thanh Hoa Branch.
- Investigating how far translation improve teaching and learning technical
vocabulary for the second year vocational students at IUH  Thanh Hoa Branch.

3. Research questions
In order to achieve these aims, the study is carried out with an attempt to answer the
following two questions:


3
1. What are the major difficulties encountered by teachers and the second year
vocational students at IUH – Thanh Hoa Branch?
2. To what extent can translation improve teaching and learning technical
vocabulary for the second year vocational students at IUH – Thanh Hoa Branch?
4. Significance of the study

The present paper focuses on the role of translation in teaching and learning
technical vocabulary from a pedagogical perspective including both translation from
first language into second language and vice versa. A basic premise of this study is
that translation cannot be avoided in ESP vocabulary acquisition and it should not
be viewed as a negative interference but as a natural and useful tool in technical
vocabulary teaching and learning. This study also provide English teacher with an
overview of translation as a perfect tool to use in teaching and learning technical
vocabulary.
5. Scope of the study

This study mainly focuses on improving teaching and learning technical vocabulary
for the second year vocational students at IUH  Thanh Hoa Branch. It involves the
participants of 170 second  year vocational students who are in their first semester
at IUH.12 English teachers at IHU are also participants in his research. Additionally,

the kind of technical vocabulary which application of Vietnamese translation
focuses on is IT vocabulary. The findings and recommendations most appropriately
applied to the teachers of English as well as the second  year vocational students at
IUH  Thanh Hoa Branch.
6. Methods of the study
This study is conducted in the form of a survey research. The data serving the
research analysis and discussion were collected by means of:
- Questionnaires for students
- Interview


4
In addition, to make the data collected more reliable and authentic, qualitative
method was applied.
7. Design of the study
The study is divided into three parts.
Part A - Introduction shows the rationale for the research, the aims, the research
questions, the significance , the scope, the methods and the design of the study.
Part B - Development consists of three chapters.
Chapter 1 - Literature review, not only deals with an overview of background to
the study, including key concepts and theories to the research topic but also
discusses previous studies of the field to reveal the research gap which needs filling.
Chapter 2  Methodology introduces the participants, instrumentation, research
process and plan of action.
Chapter 3 – Results and discussion gives a detailed presentation of data and a
detailed description of data analysis. Some explanations and interpretations of the
findings of the study are also presented.
Part C Conclusion presents the summary of major findings, points out the
limitations of the study and provides the suggestions for implication of translation

5
PART B: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
1. Theoretical background of technical vocabulary
1.1. Definition of technical words
There are several approaches taken to the identification of technical vocabulary.
One approach is to use the intuition of a subject expert. This can be done in three
ways, by using a rating scale as used in this study (Baker, 1988; Farrell, 1990), by
using a technical dictionary compiled by a subject specialist or group of specialists
(Nation, 2001: 201; Oh et al., 2000), and by making use of clues that the most
relevant specialist, the actual writer of the text, used to mark the words considered
to be important for the message of the text, since when new terms are introduced in
a text, the writers deliberately provide contextual clues to help readers manage new
terminology (Bramki and Williams, 1984; Flowerdew, 1992; Williams, 1981).
Another way is to use a corpus-comparison approach by comparing word
frequencies in a technical text with those in a different corpus (Becka, 1972; Yang,
1986; Baker, 1988; Farrell, 1990; Sutarsyah et al., 1994). Technical words should
be much more frequent in the technical corpus. Research on technical vocabulary
(Sutarsyah, Nation and Kennedy, 1994; Chung, 2003; Chung and Nation,
forthcoming) has shown a significant underestimation of the role played by
technical vocabulary in specialised texts and a lack of information about how
technical vocabulary relates to other types of vocabulary. This article reports on the
significance of this research for language learners and teachers.
1. 2. Classification of technical words
Vocabulary can be classified in different ways based on different criteria, features
or functions. Semantically, it can be divided into notional words which are objects,
actions, qualities, etc. and functional words which are those whose meanings are
grammatical. Grammatically, vocabulary can be divided into different parts of
speech: nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, prepositions, etc. Methodologically, there

are two kinds of vocabulary classification. They are active vocabulary and passive


6
vocabulary. Active words consist of words which the learners can understand and
pronounce the words correctly and use them constructively in speaking or writing.
Passive vocabulary includes words which the learners can recognize and understand
while they are reading or listening to someone speaking, but they do not use the
words in speaking or writing. Recently, some methodologists of the Communicative
Language Teaching approach have split vocabulary into productive and receptive
vocabulary. The productive vocabulary is concerned with the words that a learner
can use effectively to express his/ her ideas both in speaking and in writing forms.
The receptive vocabulary refers to the words that help a learner to receive and
understand information in listening and reading. There are different types of ESP
vocabulary presented by Simon Fraser (2005).They are general vocabulary,
academic vocabulary and technical vocabulary. General vocabulary consists of
words remaining after technical and academic words have been extracted. Most of
these will be high frequency words that are used in daily life as well as in a specific
field. Academic vocabulary consists of words used which are common in the
academic world, irrespective of the subject. Technical vocabulary is most obviously
associated with specialized texts or discourse. These words have their specific
meanings and they seem to be very uncommon to people who are not related to their
fields of meaning.

It can be further divided in to fully technical vocabulary, crypto technical
vocabulary, lay- technical vocabulary. Fully technical vocabulary comprises those
words whose meanings are clearly technical. They are specific to the field and not
likely to be known in general language. Crypto technical vocabulary consists of
polysemous words like transmitter and relaxation which could be said to be
  have a hidden technical meaning. Lay technical vocabulary

comprises those terms which are obviously technical but are likely to be known by a
layperson.



7
Dudley Evans and St John (1998) are of the opinion that teaching ESP vocabulary is
the same as teaching English for general purposes. The only distinction that should
be made is between the vocabulary for comprehension and the vocabulary for
production.
1.3. Approaches to Technical Vocabulary Teaching
There are many different methods, approaches, techniques as well as strategies to
vocabulary teaching. In order to fully understand this development it is certainly
worth giving a brief discussion of some major approaches in teaching vocabulary. It
can be easily seen that several hundred years ago, bilingual teaching was favoured,
with students learning through translation. Howatt (1984) tells us that the idea of
using L1 in the L2 classroom was a respected view during the era of The Grammar
Translation Method. The Grammar Translation Method had dominated late 19
th
and
early 20
th
century teaching. The aim of The Grammar Translation Method was to
provide the students with a detailed literary vocabulary which is learned through
long lists of translated items and a bilingual dictionary and practiced through
sentence translation with little opportunity to try out pronunciation (Rivers, 1981:
28-30).

The second major foreign language teaching approach is the Direct Method. The
Direct Method stressed the ability to use rather than analyze a language as the goal

of language instruction or in other words, the main goal was to train students to
communicate in the target language and to have an acceptable pronunciation. It
introduced vocabulary through classroom objects, mime, drawing and explanations
(Rivers, 1981: 32-33)
The Reading approach attracted more importance than grammatical skill. The
vocabulary used in the reading passages is controlled at beginning levels and is
chosen according to their frequency and usefulness. The acquisition of vocabulary
is considered to be more important than grammatical skills and is expanded as fast


8
as possible through intensive and extensive reading. The translation of vocabulary
items and sentences are permitted. (Murcia and Prator, 1979: 3)

The Audio-lingual Approach which was dominant in the United States during the
1940s, 1950s, and 1960s is known to be a major paradigm shift in foreign language
teaching (Larsen-Freeman, 2000). In this method, the amount of vocabulary
presented was kept low (Thornbury, 2002:14) and was chosen for its simplicity
(Schmitt, 2000:13). It was assumed that when grammatical fluency was present,
exposure to the foreign language itself lead to vocabulary development (Coady,
1993: 4).

The Communicative Language Teaching Approach is a renowned British Approach
to language teaching the emergence of which dates back to the mid-1960s. Concepts
like context, use, effective communication, communicative function,
comprehensible pronunciation, etc. were given importance in this approach. Senel
(2002: 243) emphasized that new words were not presented in isolation, but in the
context of a complete sentence, and in a meaningful situation. This way, the words
acquired meaning when they appeared in a particular definition in a determined
context. Moreover, Thornbury (2002:14) stated that course books began to

incorporate communicative activities specifically targeting vocabulary since the
meaning-giving role of lexis was recognized in this approach.
2. Theoretical background of L1 and Translation
2.1. Definition of translation
The definition of translation is not simple. There are so many definitions about
translation from many experts. They define the definitions about translation in many
ways.   slation is the replacement of textual
material in one language (SL) by equivalent textual material in another language
           


9
receptor language the natural equivalent of the source language message, first in
terms of meaning and second in terms of style. The definition of translation from
the 
nguage.
This is considered the simplest and clearest way to show the meaning of a new word.
Moreover, it seems to be a favourable technique by teachers thanks to its time-
saving nature. However, several authors suggest that first language does not play an
essential role in foreign language teaching (Tang, 2002). Hence, the use of
translation as a teaching technique has been viewed with suspicion by many
language teachers, and many proscribe it altogether as a matter of principle. It has
become a famous and well-accepted creed among language teachers that the
translation hinders the acquisition of L2.
Other professionals in the field of second language and foreign language acquisition
agree that mother tongue should be used with students who are not highly proficient
in the target language such as Nation (2001) or Atkinson (1987). Schmitt and
McCarthy (1997: 2) who 
            
practice of vocabulary learning and teaching also, we can see its use. At least with

non-advanced foreign language learners, translation of the new words (that are
introduced for the first time) is acknowledged as a preferable way to teach meaning
(Nation 1982, and Laufer 1997). This may suggest that mother tongue plays an
important role in language teaching, especially for the vocational students at IUH 
Thanh Hoa Branch.
2.2. Function of Translation
       unction is a
special activity or purpose of a person or thing. Basically, the special purpose or
function of translation is as a medium of communications. As Duff (1989:5) says,
  e


10
           

carry the message from the SL to TL. And it is very helpful for people which come
from around the world in communication to each other. As Nida (1981:2) states,
 three essential elements to form a
process of communication. The three essential elements are source, message, and
receptor, and these elements must be found in all   
sum up translation is a means in communication, that has source, message, and
receptor which must be found in all communication activities.
2.3. Advantages and Disadvantages of Using L1 Translation in Teaching
Vocabulary.
According to Doff (1988:12):
“Translating a new word is in itself a useful technique- it is often the
simplest and clearest way of showing what a word means’’
Liu (2009:68) sees the use of L1 in L2 vocabulary learning, or providing translation
equivalents have several advantages. They are an easy and efficient way of
depicting the core meaning of a word. Knowing the L1 equivalent also gives the

learner a sense of certainty about the meaning of a word, a certainty that is a vital
first step for reinforcing the form-meaning connection and retaining the new word


 e, using L1 translation may link a L2 word with well-established
semantic and linguistic structure which help the learner retain the word better,
            
(Fraser,1999: 238)

It is therefore economical and especially suitable for dealing with incidental


11
vocabulary that may crop up in a lesson. Many teachers find it extremely effective
in case the new words are too complicated or difficult to explain in English, for


One of the advantages is that it is not time-consuming and leaving more time for the
study of some other important language aspects. Using translation is the surest and
most economical way to convey the meanings during the lesson. Thus, translating

in English. Instead of going through a long explanation in the target language, it
would sometimes be easier and more efficient to give a translation of a vocabulary
item.
However, this way is not considered as creative way because it makes students fail
to develop an independent L2 lexicon, with the effect that they always access L2
words by means of their L1 equivalent rather than directly.
3. Previous Studies on L1 Translation in Teaching L2 Vocabulary.
To investigate areas in which L1 translation is resorted to for teaching vocabulary,
the researcher has reviewed a number of relevant studies conducted in different

parts of the world and at different times.
Laufer and Shmueli (1997) compared 4 ways of presenting the new vocabulary, that
is, words presented in isolation, words in a meaningful sentence, words in a text
context and words in an elaborated text context. Each of these ways contains half of

results indicate that the words with the L1 translation were retained better than those
with the L2 explanation.
In their study, Ramachandran and Rahim (2004) attempt to investigate the
effectiveness of using the translation method in recalling the meaning and retention


12
of the words with elementary level ESL. Their results indicated that the translation
method through using L1 was more effective than the non-translation method in
         

In her paper on using translation method in teaching vocabulary, Abdul Rahim
demonstrates the effect using translation method in teaching vocabulary. She
conducted her study among elementary level EFL learners in Malaysia. In this study,
         
translation method has a positive impact on learners recall and retention of the
meaning of words that they had learned.
The last study to be reviewed here is a case study conducted by Bouangeune (2009)
at the National University of Laos. The study makes an important contribution to
EFL teaching, particularly in the area of vocabulary for students with a lower
proficiency level. It shows the effectiveness of using L1 in teaching vocabulary
through translation exercises and dictation. The findings indicate that the
experimental group achieved better performance in both vocabulary in direct
translation and vocabulary in context. In fact, the results could provide empirical
support for the application of L1 in the FL classroom. The researcher concludes that

''in order to prevent the misunderstanding of the meaning of the new word, teachers
should provide clear, simple, and brief explanations of meaning, especially in the
learners' first language'' (Bouangeune, 2009:189)









13
CHAPTER 2: METHODOLOGY
2.1. Rationale for the use of a survey research
The author chose survey research for this study because of many reasons. First of all,
the author could gather a great number of opinions from participants. As the aim of
this study was to investigate the application of English - Vietnamese translation in
IHU, the researcher needed a big number of participants to get the most reliable
result. The author could save a lot of time by getting the answers from delivering
questionnaires in class and then interviewing some participants in person. It took
the author one month from May to June to collect the data. The research adopted a
mixed methodology  both qualitative and quantitative approaches in data
collection and data analysis.
The study consisted of 5 chapters which covered the introduction of the research,
the literature review, the methodology, the data analysis and discussion and the
conclusion chapter.
There are three data collection instruments used in this study, namely questionnaire,
interview and observation. Therefore the author could have very reliable findings at
the end. The questionnaires were delivered to all participants with both close

questions and open questions so that they can specify their opinions. The researcher
did the observation on her own with the checklist at class. The informal interviews
are also used to collect data. The researcher interviewed three teachers.
2.2. Context of the study
2.2.1. Textbook
Textbook plays crucial roles in language teaching, which is indicated by different
authors in the literature. Obviously, the materials provide basic for the content of
the lesson, the balance of skills taught, and the kind of language practice students
take part in.   Infotech-English for computer users  
Bui Trung Thanh, a lecturer at IUH and is used as an internal material at IUH to
teach college students of IT in 45 periods. Each week, teachers of English have to
teach 5 periods of 45 minutes. The aims and objectives of the ESP curriculum are to


14
help students consolidate, widen and enrich their English competence related to
their majors including both language knowledge and skills which they have gained
at university. From my own experience and other 
interviews with a lot of students at my school, the suitability of the textbook
including knowledge points (information and vocabulary areas) is not very
insufficient. Furthermore, linguistic competence like listening, speaking, and
writing is not covered in this textbook. Therefore, it can not help students improve
their skills like listening, speaking, or writing except for reading comprehension.
Students find it hard to understand the formulas, express their understanding in
explaining the positions, functions or operations of the parts of machines by their
own words because they lack a great number of vocabulary about the matters.
Therefore, they have little interest in learning ESP and the teaching English at my
university is not satisfactory. This is obviously manifested in teaching methods used
by most teachers in my university.
2.2.2. Students

Actually, there are 4 classes of IT, which made up totally 170 students at IUH. All
of them are male students, aging from 18 to 24. The majority come from different
parts of Thanh Hoa province. Some are from several cities in Vietnam such as Thai
Binh, Tay Nguyen, Vinh, Ha Tinh City. The students coming from cities have
finished three years or seven years of learning English at secondary schools before
entering the IUH. Therefore, they have better English than others from the rural or
remote areas, where there are no good opportunities for studying English. Most of
students experienced traditional      -
 emphasizes the learning of the grammar
rules of the language, not the acquisition of language skills. Now, most of them
want to learn English to read specialized documents rather than to speak English to
foreigners. Some are under strong pressure to pass exams with high mark; the others


15
prefer enhancing their specialized knowledge to preparing for their future jobs. In
addition, it helps students feel more confident to interact with teacher in ESP class.
2.2.3. Teachers

At present, the English Group at IUH based in Thanh Hoa consists of twelve full-
time teachers. All of the teachers graduated from universities of foreign languages
such as University of Languages & International Studies - Vietnam National
University, Hong Duc University and Vinh University. Eight of them have a Master
degree in English language teaching. None of them has been trained in English
speaking countries. Two teachers are taking MA courses at University of Languages
& International Studies - Vietnam National University. The teachers are quite
young (aged from 27 to 42). The oldest teacher has more than 17 years of teaching
experience and the youngest teacher has 3 years. No teachers are trained to
specialize in teaching ESP. All of the12 teachers are responsible for teaching

General English and ESP to nearly 7.000 students of four departments at IUH. They
even have to teach some different ESP subjects at the same time. The teachers have
to teach themselves and learn ESP subjects from specialized teachers who are in
charge of teaching these subjects in Vietnamese. There are three teachers being
responsible for teaching English for IT. One of them has 5- year experience and 2
other teachers have 4- year experience. They are energetic and willing to devote
their time and energy to teaching. However, they find it difficult to deal with
unfamiliar subject matter. Therefore, they encounter many difficulties in their
teaching process such as the lack of the specialized knowledge, the choice of
teaching methods and teaching materials.

In terms of methodology, the teachers at IUH are intensively using the Grammar-
Translation method. Most of the spoken interaction in English classes is conducted
in Vietnamese.



16
As mentioned above, the context of IUH reveals a situation whereby students are
required to learn English, but the English they have learned in traditional language
classes may not be used effectively in real life. It is apparent that student-centered
approach has not been widely used in teaching English at IUH. The teachers still
play the key role in classroom activities and corner the students to be active
learners. Therefore, we should apply more appropriate teaching techniques to
improve the situation of teaching ESP vocabulary at IUH.
2.3. Instruments
2.3.1. Interviews
Three teachers were interviewed for approximately 10 or 15 minutes. The aims of
using these interviews were to get the ideas, perception and evaluation from
students toward teaching technical vocabulary with translation.

2.3.2. Questionnaires
The questionnaires students were designed with both closed-ended and open-ended
questions.
Questionnaire 1 for teachers contains 3 questions designed to gather information
about the technical vocabulary
teaching, their difficulties in technical vocabulary teaching (Appendix 1)
Questionnaire 2 for students consists of 13 questions. It was designed to find out
the students problems in technical vocabulary learning and their expectation about
teaching materials. (Appendix 2)


2.4. Data collection
With permission from the teachers, the author delivered questionnaires to them and
their students at the last 15 minutes of their periods. While respondents answered
the questions, the teacher was there to clarify any questions that they did not
understand clearly. There were 12 teacher questionnaires and 170 student
questionnaires that the researcher delivered and collected after they finished. Then