A study on second-year navigation students' difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary at Haiphong Poli-technical College

A study on second-year navigation students'
difficulties in learning ESP vocabulary at
Haiphong Poli-technical College

Trần Thái Sơn

Trường Đại học Ngoại Ngữ
Luận văn ThS. Chuyên ngành: English Linguistics; Mã số: 60 22 15
Người hướng dẫn: Assoc. M.A. Mai Thị Loan
Năm bảo vệ: 2010


Abstract: ESP vocabulary takes an initial and significant role in acquiring maritime English.
To capture these terms properly, navigation students need to attain not only the words
themselves but also their specific uses on board the vessels. During the lessons and tests,
there have appeared facts that students cannot remember maritime vocabulary easily and use
it effectively. In addition, they seem to encounter some particular obstacles in learning the
specific words.
This study is carried out among the second-year navigation students at the Faculty of
Navigation, Haiphong Poly-technical College. Some of the students’ major difficulties are the
ESP vocabulary pronunciation and meanings, inappropriate materials, and lack of effective
strategies for learning ESP vocabulary. The causes of these difficulties are the lack of GE
knowledge, difficulties in teaching ESP words and lack of learner autonomy.
Some suggested solutions have been drawn out to overcome these difficulties. These
solutions help enhance the necessary GE knowledge, develop resources for ESP vocabulary
teaching and learning, encourage the development of effective vocabulary learning strategies,
develop the effective ESP vocabulary teaching and encourage students to form their learning
autonomy.
The result of this study aims at introducing effective and appropriate ways of teaching ESP
vocabulary, and providing students with appropriate methods so that they can build their
desired ways of learning words and better their maritime English.

Keywords: Phương pháp dạy học; Tiếng Anh chuyên ngành; Từ vựng


6
Content:
TABLE OF CONTENTS

Page
Declaration of originality
i
Acknowledgement
ii
Abstract
iii
Table of contents
iv
List of abbreviations
vii
List of tables and charts
viii
Part 1: Introduction
1
1. Rationale of the study
1
2. Aims of the study
2
3. Scope of the study
2
4. Methods of the study

2
5. Significance of the study
3
6. Design of the study
3
Part 2: Development
4
Chapter 1: Literature review
4
1.1. English for Special Purposes
4
1.1.1. Definition of ESP
4
1.1.2. Classification of ESP
5
1.1.3. Maritime English
6
1.1.4. The requirements for ESP teachers
6
1.2. Terminology
7
1.2.1. Definition of terminology
7
1.2.2. Characteristics of terminology
8
1.3. Vocabulary
8
1.3.1. Definition of words
8
1.3.2. Classification of words

9
1.3.3. Four strands in learning vocabulary
9
1.4. Factors affecting vocabulary acquisition
10

7
1.4.1. Learner styles and learner strategies
10
1.4.2. Materials
11
1.4.3. Pronunciation and spelling
12
1.4.4. Prototypes
12
1.4.5. Contextualization
13
1.4.6. Learner autonomy
13
1.5. Strategies to enhance students’ vocabulary
14
1.5.1. Developing a variety of techniques for the teaching of meaning
14
1.5.2. Encouraging the development of effective strategies
14
1.5.3. Exposing learners to vocabulary through reading and training lexical
inferencing

14
1.5.4. Teaching the effective use of dictionaries

14
1.5.5. Evaluating the vocabulary component of course books
15
1.5.6. Teaching vocabulary explicitly through a range of activity types
15
1.5.7. Developing resources for vocabulary teaching
15
1.6. Summary
15
Chapter 2: Methodology
16
2.1. Context of the study
16
2.2. Research question
16
2.3. Subjects of the study
17
2.4. Data collection instruments
17
2.4.1. Questionnaire
17
2.4.2. Test
17
2.4.3. Interview
18
2.5. Data collection procedure
18
Chapter 3: Data analysis, major findings and suggested solutions
19
3.1. Data analysis

19
3.1.1. Questionnaire
19
3.1.2. Test
26
3.1.3. Interview
30
3.2. Major findings
32

8
3.2.1. Lack of necessary GE knowledge
32
3.2.2. ESP vocabulary pronunciation and meanings
32
3.2.3. Inappropriate materials
32
3.2.4. Lack of effective strategies for learning ESP vocabulary
33
3.2.5. Difficulties in teaching ESP words
33
3.2.6. Lack of learner autonomy
33
3.3. Suggested solutions
34
3.3.1. Enhancing the necessary GE knowledge
34
3.3.2. Developing resources for ESP vocabulary teaching and learning
34
3.3.3. Encouraging the development of effective vocabulary learning strategies

35
3.3.4. Developing the effective ESP vocabulary teaching
36
3.3.5. Encouraging students to form their learning autonomy
36
Part 3: Conclusion
37
1. Summary of the study
37
2. Limitations of the study
38
3. Suggestions for further study
38
References
39
Appendices
I
Appendix 1: Questionnaire
I
Appendix 2: Test
IV
Appendix 3: Answer keys to the test
VII
Appendix 4: Interview questions for ESP teachers
VIII

9


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESP:
English for Specific Purposes
EBE:
English for Business and Economics
ESS:
English for Social Science
EST:
English for Science and Technology
EAP:
English for Academic Purposes
EOP:
English for Occupational Purpose
GB:
Great Britain

GE:
General English
UK:
The United Kingdom
USA:
The United States of America

10


LIST OF TABLES AND CHARTS
Chart 1: Time length of learning English before college entrance
Table 1: Results in learning basic English
Chart 2: Most difficult part of ESP vocabulary
Table 2: Obstacles with ESP vocabulary learning materials
Table 3: Problems with learning ESP vocabulary in the course books
Chart 3: Teachers’ instructing the meanings of ESP vocabulary
Chart 4: Teachers’ instructing the uses of ESP vocabulary
Chart 5: Students’ ways to learn new ESP words
Table 4: Students’ practising ESP vocabulary during the class time
Table 5: Ways of revising ESP vocabulary
Table 6: Realization of transcription
Table 7: Realization of stressed syllable positions
Table 8: Recognition of word meanings in contexts
Table 9: Uses of word when describing the subject contents
Table 10: Uses of ESP word





11

PART 1: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale of the study
Words take an important part in our daily social and occupational communications.
With teaching and learning English, especially English for Specific Purposes, words
appear as the materials and products of these procedures. McCarthy has stated that “no
matter how well the student learns grammar, no matter how successful the sounds of L2
are mastered, without words to express a wide range of meanings, communication in an L2
just cannot happen in any meaningful way.” (1990: viii)
When working as seamen on board the vessels, especially multi-lingual ones, the
Vietnamese seafarers need sufficient knowledge of navigation and good competence of
English of at least an elementary level. Students at the Navigational Faculty of Haiphong
Poly-technical College will become future seamen on board, thus good competence of
English language is necessary for them in both speaking and listening. They have to learn
technical terms about deck equipment, departure, anchoring and pilotage. It is also required
that they should learn specific vocabulary such as the weather station, magnetic compasses,
ventilator, funnel, gyro compasses, GPS, steering stand, navigation lights, engine order
telegraph, control consol, navigation table, communication station, emergency equipment,
anchor, hatch, hawser, and other appliances on board the vessels. They also need to know
English vocabulary about operations in hoisting gangways, mooring ropes, cargo handling,
and keeping watches, hear steering orders and repeat them for confirmation before
operation.
The second-year students of the Navigation Faculty of Haiphong Poly-technical
College start to learn maritime English at the beginning of their third term. Their course
book is English I for Navigation Students, which has been composed and brought into use
for one course. Through my teaching experience, I have discovered that there have been
some obstacles while the students have been learning their maritime English vocabulary,
although the teachers have tried their best to instruct them. After a number of periods
learning maritime vocabulary, the learners seem unable to remember correct words or to
use the right one for their learning purposes. Some admit that they wish to widen their
quantity of vocabulary but they lack suitable ways.

In order to discover the problems with the learning Maritime English vocabulary which
navigation students may face, we carry out this study on the second-year navigation

12
students’ difficulties in learning major vocabulary. Certain ways to overcome the obstacles
for the navigation students will be drawn out from the results of this study.
2. Aims of the study
On doing this minor research, we aim at finding out the difficulties which the second-
year students have in learning maritime English vocabulary and some possible causes of
these difficulties. Five suggested solutions will be provided to help second-year students
overcome these obstacles.
3. Scope of the study
There have been a number of investigations on the difficulties in learning English
vocabulary up to now. This assignment covers some of the navigation students’ prevailing
obstacles in learning maritime English vocabulary. The participants are 122 second-year
navigation students and four other ESP teachers at Haiphong Poly-technical College. The
results of this study will be used as suggestions for better teaching and learning ESP
vocabulary at Navigation Faculty of the college.
4. Methods of the study
When carrying out this assignment, the author prepares a questionnaire, a test and an
interview to investigate the second-year navigation students’ difficulties in learning
maritime English vocabulary and find out some possible causes of these difficulties.
The questionnaire consists of 10 questions, basing on the information in the literature
review part and the aims of the study. This questionnaire is prepared in Vietnamese for the
learners to read, think and answer suitably and adequately. After that it is delivered to
second-year navigation students, and the answers are collected and analyzed. The real
difficulties in learning maritime English vocabulary and some possible causes to these
difficulties will be found out.
A test paper with two exercises on maritime vocabulary is also designed for the
learners, who have fulfilled the questionnaire, to take. The results of this minor test will

help find out the students’ actual difficulties in learning maritime English vocabulary.
Besides, an interview with four other teachers teaching English I for Navigation
Students to the second-year students is also conducted. Each teacher is given four
questions and their answers will contribute to consolidating our findings about the
students’ difficulties in learning ESP words and suggesting some solutions to overcome
those difficulties.

13
5. Significance of the study
Theoretically, this study will help us to uncover the second-year students’ obstacles in
learning the maritime vocabulary. A clearer look into the reasons for these difficulties will
also be gained, and some suggested solutions will be drawn out.
Practically, it suggests a certain ways in teaching and learning vocabulary to help the
students overcome these difficulties so that they can be confident not only in learning
maritime English vocabulary but also in using these words for their future jobs on board
seagoing vessels.
6. Design of the study
The thesis consists of three main parts as follows:
Part 1: Introduction
This component of the study includes the rationale, aims, scope, methods, significance
and design of the study. The readers are provided with the reasons for choosing the
research issue, the research questions, the boundary of the investigation, the ways to carry
out the study and its organization.
Part 2: Development
This part contains three chapters.
Chapter 1 reviews some theoretical background for this study. It focuses on the English
for Special Purposes, vocabulary, terminology, factors affecting learning vocabulary, and
strategies to enhance students’ vocabulary.
Chapter 2 introduces the methodology of this study. It provides some necessary
information about the context of the study, research questions, subjects of the study, data

collection instruments and data collection procedure.
Chapter 3 represents the data collection analysis on the questionnaire, test and
interview. Some major findings based on the analysis will be drawn out, and some
suggested solutions to the difficulties which the navigation students cope with when
learning ESP vocabulary, the possible causes of these difficulties and some solutions will
be included in this chapter.
Part 3 is the conclusion, which summarizes the study, states its limitations, and
suggests further investigation into the problem.



49
REFERENCES
1. Aitchison, J. (1987). Words in the Mind. An Introduction to the Mental Lexicon. Great
Britain: Basil Blackwell.
2. Antia, B. E. (2000). Terminology and Language Planning. An alternative framework of
practice and discourse. Amsterdam/ Philadelphia: John Benjamins Publishing
Company.
3. Baker, A. (1981). Ship or Sheep? An intermediate pronunciation course. GB:
Cambridge University Press.
4. Bouillon, P. and Busa, F. (2001). The Language of Word Meaning. USA: Cambridge
University Press.
5. Brown, J. D. (2001). Using surveys in language programs. USA: Cambridge
University Press.
6. Cabré, M. T. (1999). Terminology. Theory, methods and applications. The Netherlands
and the USA: John Benjamins Publishing House.
7. Coady, J. and Huckin, T. (1997). Second Language Vocabulary Acquisition.
Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
8. Cottrel, S. (2001). Teaching Study Skills and Supporting Learning. GB: Palgrave.
9. Cruse, D. A. (1986). Lexical Semantics. GB: Cambridge University Press.

10. Cunningham, S., Moor, P. with Eales, F. (2005). New Cutting Edge. Elementary.
Students’ Book. China: Pearson Education Limited.
11. Davies, P. and Pearse, E. (2000). Success in English Teaching. Hong Kong: Oxford
University Press.
12. Do, T. B. (2003). English-Vietnamese Maritime Dictionary. Ho Chi Minh City:
Transport and Traffic Publishing House.
13. Doff, A. (1988). Teach English. A training course for teachers. Trainer’s Handbook.
GB: Cambridge University Press.
14. Donald, S. G. and Kneale, P. E. (2001). Study Skills for Language Students. A Practical
Guide. GB: Arnold.
15. Evans, T. D. and St John, M. J. (1998). Developments in ESP. A multi-discipline
approach. UK: Cambridge University Press.
16. Frazer, L. and Lawley, M. (2000). Questionnaire design and administration: a
practical guide. Singapore: John Wiley & Sons Australia, Ltd.

50
17. Gairns, R. and Redman S. (1986). Working with Words. A guide to teaching and
learning vocabulary. UK: Cambridge University Press.
18. Hedge, T. (2000). Teaching and Learning in the Language Classroom. Hong Kong:
Oxford University Press.
19. Hess, N. (2001). Teaching Large Multilevel Classes. UK: Cambridge University Press.
20. Hughes, A. (1989). Testing for Language Teachers. UK: Cambridge University Press.
21. Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. (1987). English for Specific Purposes: A learning-
centered approach. UK: Cambridge University Press.
22. Jackson, H. and Amvela, E. Z. (2000). Word, Meaning and Vocabulary. An
Introduction to Modern English Lexicology. GB: Cassell.
23. Jaworski, A. and Coupland, N. (1999). The Discourse Reader. GB: Routledge.
24. Kluijven, P.C.V. (2003). The International Maritime Language Programme.
Netherlands: Alk & Heijnen Publishers.
25. Littlewood, W. T. (1984). Foreign and Second Language Learning. Language-

acquisition research and its implications for the classroom. GB: Cambridge University
Press.
26. Martin, I. (1992). An Invitation to ESP. Singapore: SEAMEO Regional Language
Centre.
27. McCarthy, M. (1990). Vocabulary. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
28. Nation, P. (1994). New ways in Teaching Vocabulary. USA: Pantagraph Printing.
29. Nguyen, T. G. (1998). Vietnamese Lexicology. Hanoi: Educational Publishing House.
30. Nisbet, A., Kutz, W. A. and Logie, C. (1997). Marlins English for Seafarers. Study
Pack 1. UK: Marlins.
31. Nolasco, R. and Arthur, L. (1988). Large Classes. Hong Kong: Macmillan Publishers.
32. Nunan, D. (1991). Language Teaching Methodology. A Textbook for teachers. GB:
Prentice Hall International.
33. Read, J. (2000). Assessing Vocabulary. UK: Cambridge University Press.
34. Richards, J. C. (1976). Teaching English for Science and Technology. Singapore:
Singapore University Press Pte. Ltd.
35. Richards, J. C. and Rodgers, T. S. (2001). Approaches and Methods in Language
Teaching. USA: Cambridge University Press.

51
36. Rivers, W. M. and Temperley, M. S. (1978). A practical guide to the teaching of
English as a second or foreign language. USA: Oxford University Press.
37. Schmitt, N. and McCarthy, M. (1997). Vocabulary: Description, Acquisition and
Pedagogy. UK: Cambridge University Press.
38. Temmerman, R. (2000). Towards New Ways of Terminology Description. The social-
cognitive approach. The Netherlands and the USA: John Benjamins Publishing House.
39. Ur, P. (1996). A Course in Language Teaching. Practice and Theory. GB: Cambridge
University Press.
40. Waters, A. (1983). Issues in ESP. GB: Pergamon Press.
41. Willing, K. (1989). Teaching How to Learn: Learning Strategies in ESL. A Teachers
Guide. Australia: Macquarie University.

42. Wright, J. (1998). Dictionaries. Hong Kong: Oxford University Press.
FROM WEBSITES:
43. />Vocabulary.pdf
44. />Nunan.pdf
45. />vocabulary.pdf