Designing a supplementary reading syllabus for grade 11 English gifted students at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High school, Nghe An

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

NGUYỄN THỊ HẢI
DESIGNING A SUPPLEMENTARY READING SYLLABUS FOR
GRADE 11 ENGLISH GIFTED STUDENTS AT PHAN BOI
CHAU SPECIALIZING HIGH SCHOOL, NGHE AN
(Thiết kế chương trình đọc hiểu bổ trợ cho hoc sinh chuyên Anh lớp
11 ở trường THPT chuyên Phan Bội Châu, Nghệ An)

MA Minor PROGRAMME Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 601410
Supervisor: Phạm Minh Hiền, MA

Hanoi - 2010


iv

TABLE OF CONTENTS

*Declaration……………………………………………………………….

i

*Acknowledgements………………………………………………………

ii

*Abstract…………………………………………………………………..

iii

*List of tables ……………………………………………………………..

vi

PART A: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………… 1
1. Rationales of the study…………………………………………………...

1

2. Aims of the study………………………………………………………...

1

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

1

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

2

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

2

6. Significance of the study………………………………………………..

2

7. Design of the study……………………………………………………...

2

PART B: DEVELOPMENT………………………………………………

3

CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW…………………………………

3

I.1. An overview of syllabus design………………………………………..

3

I.1.1. Syllabus and curriculum……………………………………………..

3

I.1.2. Definition of syllabus………………………………………………..

3

I.2 Approaches to language syllabus design…………………………….

4

I.2.1. Synthetic approach……………………………………………….

4

I.2.2. Analytic approach…………………………………………………

4

I.3. Types of language syllabus……………………………………………

4

I.3.1. Grammatical syllabus…………………………………………….

5

I.3.2. Siuational syllabus……………………………………………….

5

I.3.3. Notional - functional syllabus……………………………………

6

I.3.4. Skilled – based syllabus………………………………………….

6

I.3.5. Topical syllabus………………………………………………….

6

I.4. Steps to design a language syllabus ………………………………….

7

I.4.1. Needs analysis in syllabus design………………………………..

7


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I.4.2. What is needs analysis? ………………………………………….

7

I.4.3. Setting goals and objectives……………………………………...

8

I.4.4. Content specification…………………………………………….

8

I.4.5. Syllabus organization……………………………………………

8

I.5. Reading theory………………………………………………………

10

I.5.1. Definition of reading……………………………………………

10

I.5.2. Reading and reading comprehension…………………………...

10

I.5.3. Reading skills and comprehension skills……………………….

10

I.6. Summary………………………………………………………………
CHAPTER

II:

ANALYZING

THE

NEEDS

AT

PHAN

BOI

SPECIALIZING SCHOOL………………………………………………
II.1. Information………………………………………………………….

11
CHAU
12
12

II.2. The situation of teaching English to grade 11 English gifted students at Phan
Boi Chau Specializing School……………………………………………..............12
II.2.1. The school……………………………………………………….

12

II.2.2. The teachers……………………………………………………...

12

II.2.3. The students……………………………………………………...

13

II.2.4. The currents reading syllabus for grade 11………………………

13

II.2.4.1. The good points of the text book when used for reading and
learning at Phan Boi Chau Specializing School
II.2.4.2. The drawbacks of the text book when used for teaching and
learning at Phan Boi Chau Specializing School
II.3. THE SURVEY……………………………………………………….

14

II.3.1. The subjects………………………………………………………

14

II.3.2. The instruments for collecting data………………………………

14

II.3.2.1. The questionnaire to teachers……………………………...

14

II.3.2.2. The questionnaire to students……………………………...

14

II.3.3. Data analysis and findings……………………………………….

14

II.3.3.1. Needs perceived by teachers……………………………….

15

II.3.3.2. Needs perceived by students……………………………….

21


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CHAPTER III: DESIGNING THE SUPPLEMENTARY READING SYLLABUS
FOR GRADE 11 ENGLISH GIFTED STUDENTS AT PHAN BOI CHAU
SPECIALIZING SCHOOL …………………………………………………….
III.1. Aims and objectives of the syllabus……………………………...............
26
III.1.1. Aims of the syllabus………………………………………….

26

III.1.2. Objectives if the syllabus……………………………………....

26

III.2. Content specification of the syllabus……………………………

27

III.2.1. Topics in the syllabus…………………………………………

27

III.2.2. Reading skills and reading exercises in the syllabus…………

27

III.2.3. Grammar points in the syllabus………………………………

28

III.3. Time allotment for the syllabus………………………………….

28

III.4. The organization of the syllabus…………………………………

28

III.5. The proposed syllabus for grade 11 English gifted students at Phan Boi
Chau Specializing School l…………………………………….
29
III.6. Summary………………………………………………………….

34

CHAPTER IV: SUGGESTED TEACHING METHODS AND ASSESSMENT
……………………………………………………………………………..

35

IV.1. Suggested teaching methods………………………………….

35

IV.2. Suggested format of assessing reading skills………………..

36

PART C: CONCLUSIONS……………………………………………….

40

1. Conclusions of the study……………………………………………

40

2. Limitations and recommendation for further research……….

40

REFERENCES…………………………………………………………...

42

APPENDICES…………………………………………………………….

I

APPENDIX 1……………………………………………………………...

I

APPENDIX 2……………………………………………………………...

VII

A SAMPLE UNIT ………………………………………………………

XI


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LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS

ESP: English for specific purposes
EFL: English as a Foreign Language
ESL: English as a Second Language
GPE: General Purpose English
MOET: Ministry of Education and Training
PBCSHS: Phan Boi Chau Specializing School


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PART A: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationales of the study.
The new compulsory English text books have been in use since 2006. They are quite
different from the old ones. Nevertheless, the compulsory English text books ( TIENG
ANH –NANG CAO) used for gifted students at Phan Boi Chau Specializing School were
not actually designed for gifted students. Thus, they are not plentiful enough to meet the
students’ needs as well as the demand of the Ministry of Education and Training (MOET)

tests for excellent students. The new compulsory English text books are abundant in
contents, concerning reading skill, however, up to now there have been no supplementary
reading syllabus as well as supplementary reading materials for English gifted students.
As we all know, gifted education plays a very important part in general education.
Gifted students always require a different education. Being a member of the teaching staff
and fully aware of the importance and necessity of a supplementary reading syllabus, the
researcher of this study decided to do an intensive reseach on designing a supplementary
reading syllabus for grade 11 English gifted students at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High
School.
2. Aims of the study.
The study major aims at designing an appropriate supplementary reading syllabus for
grade 11 English gifted students at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School.
- To achieve this aim, the researcher set the specific objective study as follows:
-To explore the current main trends in language syllabus design.
-To propose a supplementary reading syllabus for grade 11 English gifted students
Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School, which can meet both the MOET requirements on
the curriculum for the gifted and on tests for excellent students’ needs.
-To suggest teaching methods and ways of assessment appropriate to the teaching and
learning situation at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School.
3. Research questions
1- .What are the current trends of language syllabus design?
2-.What is the students’ expectation of reading syllabus ?
3-.How is the supplementary reading syllabus for grade 11 English gifted students Phan
Boi Chau Specializing High School designed ?
4-What teaching methods and ways of assessment can be suggested ?


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4. Scope of the study

Within its scope, this research paper mainly focuses on designing a supplementary
reading syllabus, which is suitable to the local situation of Phan Boi Chau Specializing
High School, it aims at only students in grade 11.
5. Methods of the study
Both quanlitatives and quantatives 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 qualitative method is used as the supporting method to collect information for the
study through the discussion, informal interviews with students, teachers and academic
specialists.
6. Significance of the study
The study is hoped to provide English gifted students and the teachers at Phan Boi
Chau Specializing High School with an appropriate and interesting supplemetary syllabus
based on which reading materials can be systematically selected and developed.
7. Design of the study
The study consists of three parts:
Part A: Introduction: It gives an overview of the study in terms of rationales aims,
research questions, scope, method, significance and the design of the study.
Part B: Development: it contains 4 chapters
Chapter I: provides an overview of the language syllabus design and reading skill
Chapter II: is concerned with an analysis of the situation of teaching English Phan
Boi Chau Specializing High School and an analysis of grade 11 English gifted students’
needs in terms of reading skill.
Chapter III: focuses on proposing a supplementary syllabus with the description of
aims and objectives, and the specification and sequencing of content into each unit.
Chapter IV: suggests a teachng method and testing format that are suitable to the
syllabus.
Part C: Conclusion: - It gives a summary of the study, limitations and some
suggestions for the future research.

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PART: DEVELOPMENT
CHAPTER I: LITERATURE REVIEW
I.1. An overview of the syllabus design
I.1.1 Syllabus and curriculum
This sudy bases its theoretical background on the syllabus design, theories given by
Nunan (1985), Yalden (1987), Dubin & Olshtain (1985), White (1988), whose concepts
and procedures for designing syllabus have paved the ways for those who are concerned
with the art of language teaching material development and syllabus design. What these
researchers have in common in the theories of syllabus design is that the work must be
based on the analysis of learners’ needs, objectives of the course, the methodology and
material for the course.
I.1.2 Definition of syllabus
“What do we mean by a syllabus ? “- This seems to be regarded as an unimportant
question to most language teachers. But in fact, it is not an easy task to attain a perfect
definition of “syllabus” in current literature because of the disagreement about the nature
of “the syllabus”. All the same, the notion of “syllabus” has been defined in some different
ways by many different authors.
As an advocate of the broad view, Yalden (1984: 14) pointed out that: “syllabus
replaces the concept of “ method” , and the syllabus is now seen as an instrument by
which the teacher, with the help of the syllabus designer, can achieve a degree of “ fit”
between the needs and the aims of the learners (as social being and as individual), and the
activites which will take place in the class room.”
On the other hand, some other authors (for example, Nunan, 1988; Allen, 1984;
Hutchinson and Waters, 1987), who adopted the narrow view, argued that there should be
the distinction between syllabus and methodology: “syllabus is concerned with a
specification of what units will be taught” (Allen 1984,:49). In addition, Nunan, another
narrow view supporter defines syllabus as follows: “syllabus design is seen as being

concerned essentially with the selection and grading of content, while methodology is
concerned wirh the selection of learning task and activities.”
With the aim of designing a supplementary reading for the gifted, the term “Syllabus”
is used in its restricted sense.


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I.2. Approaches to language syllabus design.
I.2.1. Synthetic approach
Specialists often group these approaches into two distinct types of approach. Which
are labelled synthetic and analytic.
The terms”sythetic” refers here to structural, lexical, notional, functiomal and most
situational and topical syllabus, in which acquisition is a process of gradual accumulation
of seperately taught parts, building up to the whole structure of the language. The learner is
exposed to a deliberately limited sample of language at any time and has to “re- synthesize”
the language that has been broken down into a large number of small pieces with the aim of
making this learning task easier” ( Wilkins,1976: 2)
I.2.2. Analytic approach.
In “analytic”prior analysis of the total language system into a set of discrete pieces of
language is largely unnecessary: “Analytic approaches are organized in terms of purposes
for which people are learning language and the kinds of the language performance that are
necessary to meet those purposes” (Wilkins,1976:13.). Thus “analytic” refers not to what
the syllabus designer does, but to the operations required of the learner. “Since we are
inviting the learner, directly or indirectly, to recognize the linguistic components of the
language he is acquiring, we are in effect basing our approach on the learner’s analytic
capabilities” (Wlkins,1976:14). Analytic syllabuses are presented inchunks, without
linguistic interference or control, and rely on the learner’s ability to induce and infer
language rules, as well as on innate knowledge of linguistic universals. Procedural, process
and task syllabus are example of the analytic syllabus (Long& Crookes, 1993: 11).

In practice, however, any course and syllabus could be placed somewhere on the
continuum between the wholly synthetic and the wholly analytic. And this proposed
syllabus tends towards analytic syllabus.
I.3. Types of language syllabus
A language teaching syllabus is the linguistic and subject matter that makes up the
teaching. It is agreed that the choice of an appropriate syllabus is a major decision in
language teaching and it should be considered and made as carefully consciously and with
much information as possible.


5

I.3.1. Grammatical syllabus/ structural syllabus
Historically, this is the most prevalent type for the teaching of a language in which the
selection and grading of the content is from frequent to less frequent or from easy to
difficult. The focus is on the outcomes or the product, so the learner is expected to master
each structural step and add it to his grammar collection.
However,”structurally graded syllabus misrepresented the complex nature of the
language as a system and tended to focus on only one aspect of language, that is, formal
grammar” ( Nunan, 1988:30). A popular feature of the structural syllabus is that it is
“supposedly” generative. Having learnt paradigms and pattern sentences, learners are in
position to use this knowledge to generate their own sentences to express their own
meanings. But in fact, the matter is that a structural syllabus appears, finally, to be
bankrupt. If we base our syllabus on pedagogic description, there is not as it were, that
much grammar to learn: and we have all the experience of our students running out of new
bits of grammar to be taught before they have begun to master what they already know.
I.3.2. Situational syllabus
A situational syllabus focuses on the language used in society as a social medium, the
language that “is always used in a social context and cannot fully understood without
reference to that context” (Wilkins, 1976:16 ).

Here, the principal organizing characteristic is a list of situations, which reflects the
way language and behavior are used everyday outside the classroom.
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. Moreover, “it assumes that the syllabus
design is able to predict accurately the situation in which the learners will find themselves”
( Bell, 1981:54 ).
In summary, the content of language teaching is a collection of real or imaginary
situations in which language occurs or used. A situation usually involves several
participants who are enaged in some activities in a specific setting. The language combined
into plausible segment of discourse. The primary purpose of a situational languageteaching syllabus is to teach the language that occurs in the situation.


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I.3.3. Notional – functional syllabus.
The notional syllabus is based on conceptual categories called notions such as quantity,
quality, duration, location and so on. These notions are the basis for organization and
sequenced according to chronology, frequency or usefuless.
Notional syllabus emphasizes the semantic knowledge and try to answer the question
“what do the learners need to express? “ (Wilkins, 1983: 86 ). Notional – syllabus focus on
the learner and the learner’ communicative purposes and this is one of the strengths of this
syllabus type. Nevertheless, Cook (1985) points out that in the notional syllabus, a sound
psychological basis for notion is lacking. Crombie (1985) presents one more weakness of
the notional syllabus, one notion is presented at the time, whereas notions actually co-occur
in discourse. Moreover, it is an easy task to decide which notion is more coplex than others
and this causes difficulties in sequencing the notion.
I.3.4. Skill - based syllabuses.
Skills are things that people must be able to do to be competent in a language, relatively

independently of the situation or settings in which the language use can occur while
situational syllabus group functions together into specific settings of language use, skillbased syllabus group linguistic competencies (pronunciation, vocabulary, grammar and
discourse) together into generalized types of behavior, such as listening to spoken language
for the main idea, writing well-formed paragraphs, giving effective oral presentations and
so on. This type of syllabus can help English for specific purposes learnes to develop skills
and strategies with the aims of learning the specific language skills and developing more
general competence in the language. Learners, therefore, are made into a better process of
information while applying the language skills.
I.3.5. Topic - based syllabus.
With content-based instruction, learners are helped to acquire language through the
study of a series of relevant topics with each topic being exploited in systematic ways and
from different angles. Topical syllabuses are a common and convenient method of
organising ESL/ EFL textbooks, and share the motivational potential syllabus, especially if
selection is based on needs identification performed in terms of topics. The learners,
therefore, are exposed to the language in various topics relevant to their needs. However,
they also share the difficulties of defining and distinguish situations and topics, dealing
with grammatical forms, and grading and sequencing of content. As Long & Crookes


7

(1993:20) point out, “There is in principle no way to grade situations in terms of difficulty
or as to which ones need to be “learned” before others”.
Moreover, how does a syllabus designer ensure that the topics and texts chosen will
give a sufficient exposure to the language that is a representative of the target situation?
This is an important question related closely to the concept of linguistic coverage. How can
adequate and balanced coverage be assured? The syllabus designer must, in all fairness,
produce a syllabus that is accountable to sponsors, testers and the learners themselves.
I.4. Steps to design a language syllabus.
I.4.1. Needs analysis in syllabus design.

It is of great necessity to know the importance of Needs Analysis and Needs Analysis
approaches, Target Needs and Learning Needs. Thus, this part will mention about the
importance of Needs Analysis, Needs Analysis approaches, Target Needs and Learning
Needs.
I.4.2. What is needs analysis?
Needs analysis is considered as the initial process for the specification of behavioral
objectives. It is from these objectives that detailed aspect of the syllabus such as functions,
topics, lexis and structure are derived. Nunan (1988: 75) pointed out”. Needs analysis
refers to a family of produres for gathering information about learners and about
communication tasks for use in syllabus design”.
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,
Platt and Webber, 1986:189).
According to Robinson (1991:9), a careful needs analysis should involve “Present
Situation Analysis” (PSA) and “Target Situation Analysis” (TSA). PSA concerns the
students” state of language development at the beginning of the language programme,
whereas students’ language requirements regarding the target situation are identified
through TSA.
Nowadays, needs analysis is crucial “to conduct an in-depth needs assessment before
planning and inplementing a curriculum and material” (John, 1991; Robinson, 1991)
especially in the context of ESP. Therefore, these two approaches to needs analysis (PSA
and TSA) must be considered and combined so as to achieve a full understanding of the
learners’ needs.


8

I.4.3. Setting goals and objectives.
Aims obviously are likely to have a broader character than objective, and they are longterm goals. These aims, which also refer to the underlying reasons for purposes of a course,
are normally described in very general terms and illustrated by objectives clearly, precisely

and appropriately. Also, objectives are defined by Nunan (1998:61) as follows: “objectives
are specific before contents and activities because their principle role is to act as a
dependent on the target situation; this leads to the fact that this approach is learnerrestricted. Obviously, each approach has their own advantages as well as the drawback;
thus, with the aim of creating appropriate ESP syllabuses for their own learners syllabus
designers should adopt those well-tried approaches with the combinaton of the target
situation, skills, competence and performance factors. This way, undoubtedly, may
maximize the strengths and minimize the drawback of the above-mentioned approaches.
Taken this idea into account, this interactive approach will be applied to design a
supplementary reading syllabus for grade 11 English gifted students at PBCSHS.
I.4.4. Content specification
After the general goals of a course have been set, the next step is to specify content to
be taught. According to Richard, Platt and Webber (1986:253) they define “selection” in
language teaching as follows: “the choice of linguistic content (vocabulary, grammar, ect.)
for a language course, text book, ect. Procedures for selecting language items to include in
a language course include the use of frequency counts, needs analysis and pedagogic
grammar”. So when selecting content, selecting grammatical components, selecting tasks
grammatical and notional components should be taken into account. Selectiing interesting
and relevant content is a difficult task, however, it would seem that most course and
material writers proceed on an intuitive basis when selecting content.
I.4.5. Syllabus organization.
The next step is to decide on an appropriate strategy of presentation, according to
Munby, (1984:58) “It is here that decisions are made about the clustering or grouping of
content into learning units, about grading and sequencing, introduction and recycling, etc”
(Munby,1983:58). Taba (1962) seems to share the same stand when he advocates the
general model of syllabus design which gives the following steps:
1. needs analysis
2. formulation of objects


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3. selection of content
4. organization of content
5. selection of learning activities
6. organization learning of activities
7. decisions about what needs evaluating and how to evaluate
This movement, which takes need analysis as the point of departure, led in part to the
development of English for Specific Purposes (ESP).
According to Nunan (1998), all language programs should take their form of departure
from the goals and objectives that have been derived from an analysis of learner needs. For
him, designing a syllabus should involves the following steps:
1. needs analysis
2. setting goals
3. selecting and grading content
4. selecting and grading learning tasks

In defining ESP authors tend to distinguish between ESP and GPE (general purpose
English) and the issues related to ESP and GPE syllabus design. Richard (1984:7) states
that “In contrast to students’ learning English for General Purposes for whom mastery of
the language for its own sake or in order to pass a general examination is the primary goal,
the ESP student is usually studying English in order to carry out a particular role, such as
that of foreign student in an English-medium university, flight attendant, mechanic or
doctor”.
This study is aimed at designing a general purpose syllabus for gifted students which
means designing a general purpose syllabus. Additionally, gifted students who are the
objects of the study, are not like other students who also learn general purpose English.
And they always have great expectations for the course. So it is the intention of the author
to follow the four main stages of syllabus.
1. needs analysis
2. goal setting

3. content spesification
4. syllabus organization (sequencing)


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I.5. Reading theory
I.5.1. Definition of reading
As we know, many linguistics, and second language reseachers have investigated about
reading.
The definitions of reading are likely to be abundant and various. Nevertheless, owning
to the limittation of the mini-thesis, the author would like to quote only some definitions.
According to Williams.E (1990:2) “reading is a process whereby one looks at and
understands what has been written”. According to Frank Smith (1985:102) “reading is
understanding the author’s thought”.
I.5.2. Reading and reading comprehension
Grellet; F(1990) establishes the notion that “reading and comprehension or
undersatnding a written text means extracting and requires information from it as
effectively as possible”. While William (1984:4) and Nuttal (1996:3) share the same view
on the ground that “reading accounts for understanding what has been written, reading is
the act of reconstruction”.
In summary, reading involves the communication of a message between an author and
a reader. Readers with their knowledge about the field concerned can predict and expect
what is to come leads to the fact that their understanding comprehension is better.
I.5.3. Reading skills
In reading, readers have the task of incompletely recovering a message that has been
incompletely the writer. In order to do this well, readers have to utilize different skills and
strategies to construct the meaning from the text.
Concerning ways to exploit reading text, Nuttal (1996:48- 720) has given several
reading skill of which some basic ones consists of:

Guessing the meaning of words based on structural and contextual clues
 Understanding syntax
 Recognising and interpreting chesive devices
 Interpreting discourse markers
 Recognizing text organization
 Recognising implications and making inferences
 Making prediction


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 Skimming
 Scanning
I.6. Summary
This chapter reviews such the relevant theories for ESP reading materials as an
overview of ESP, approaches to language syllabus and curriculum, syllabus design and
stages in syllabus design, need analysis. In addition definition of syllabus is also presented.
At the end of the chapter, reading theories were expounded and reading skill from Nuttal
will be employed to specify the content of the syllabus.


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CHAPTER II: THE STUDY
II.1. Introduction
In this chapter, the current situation at Phan Boi Chau Specializing High School
(PBCSHS) related to the study will be taken in close-up. Reseach methodology for results
of analysis will also be discussed, followed by the results of the survey questionaires and
conclusion about students’ needs.
II.2. The situation of teaching English gifted students Phan Boi Chau Specializing

High School (PBCSHS)
II.2.1. The school
Phan Boi Chau is the only Specializing High School in Nghe An which is responsible
for training and fostering talented for province and for the country. The major task of the
school is to look for and foster talents for the country and to build the school into a higher
quality education center. It has the reputation of having a high rate of students passing the
national exams for the excellent. However things are not really good for regarding the
national exams for English excellent students. It is the only specialzing high school of the
province but the facilities are not very sufficient. Each classroom is only equipped with
students’ desks, a teacher table, four ceiling fans, and a board. The school has one library
with rather many English books but they aren’t up-date. The school also has a computer lab
but they are not intended to devote to language learningclasses. This causes difficulties for
teachers to carry out their plans.
II.2.2. The teachers
There are 12 English teachers aged between 24 and 54. Most of them have been trained
in Vietnam, only one teacher studied Master Degree abroad, three of them studied Master
Degree at Hanoi National University of Foreign Languages and some are now studying for
M.A degree there. In general, they are well-trained and rather professionally experienced
with at least 4 years in teaching. After interviewing the teachers it is found that those who
teach at English specializing classes find it extremely hard to supplement the curriculum
and to add materials. They also have very few opportunities to get further training in
courses especially training course for teachers at specializing schools. In addition, the
teachers have a few chances to work or contact with native speakers, academic specialists
and experts who can give useful assistance and consultation.


13

Hopefully, the proposed supplementary syllabus is an attempt to help solve one of the
above problems and it may help reduce the teachers’ work in preparing materials when

teaching English gifted students.
II.2.3. The students
The student population of school ranges from fifteen to eighteen years old. Most of
students in English classes are girls. This is a typical feature of PBCSHS. Most of them
come from Vinh City, some come from different districts in the province. Being students of
language specializing classes, they are considered gifted students who have special
command of English. The English gifted are selected after an extrance exam in English
which are only in written form and with the results of exam in Literature and Mathematics (
from the final exam). The problem is that some become English gifted students due to their
good results in Maths and Literature although they are not realy very good at English. From
observation and interviews with teachers we found that the students’ motivation is one of
the advantages of the school. Most students are very keen on learning English and tend to
search for rare and difficult exercises from various English books. Almost 100% of them
pass the provincial and university entrance exam with good results. However, very few
students could pass the national exam for the excellent with the high marks. But in 2010, it
is the first time one student could pass with the first prize. As a result some students are not
motivated to take the national exam for the excellent especially grade 12 students.
II.2.4. The current reading syllabus for grade 11
II.2.4.1. The good points of the text book when used for teaching and learning at
PBCSHS.
The text is much more culturally sensitive. It is advantageous because the units are
organised around 6 broad themes which are interesting and cross-curricular topics, which
helps students concentrate on dealing with the English without spending too much time
understanding the text. Each broad theme is then subdivided into different themes in
different units. In summary, the text book contains lively and interesting materials .It is
much better than the old one
II.2.4.2. The drawbacks of the text book when used for teaching and learning at
PBCSHS.
Besides the advantages, “Tieng Anh 11 nang cao” (Advanced English 11) has some
drawbacks when used in the school. The foremost drawback is that the text book isn’t

14

sufficient enough to meet the demand of time allotment. According the guideline of the
school, in grade 11, English is taught in 35 weeks with 6 periods a week. Another problem
is that these books are aimed at different kinds of students. Students who would take the
university entrance exam or those who would take the national exam for excellent students.
The lack of an appropriate syllabus guiding the selection has also resulted in inconsistent
and unsystematically selection of teaching material.
There, it is very important to have the supplement for the gifted.
II.3. The survey
II.3.1. The subjects
The survey is carried out with the participation of 12 English teachers who are the
teacher population of the English section and 36 grade 11 English gifted students.
II. 3.2. The instrument for collecting data.
To achieve the aims of the study, questionnaires based on the analysis of the English
teaching and learning at PBCSHS were conducted to both the teachers and grade 11
Englsih gifted students. The questions were organised as follows:
Section 1: Difficulties in terms of reading skills
Section 2: Topics to be covered in the syllabus
Section 3: Grammatical terms should be included in the syllabus
Section 4: Time allocated for the syllabus
Questionnairs were conducted to collect information from the teachers, see
APPENDIX 1
The student questionnaire was a modified version of the teacher questionnaire but
section 4 not included.
Questionnaires were conducted to collect information from students, see APPENDIX 2
In conclusion, 156 copies of seven kinds of questionnaires were sent to the informants
in May, 2010 including 12 teachers and 36 students. For the sake of accurate and effective

interpretation of data, frequencies are used to find out the percentage of each item to work
out the populations’ ideas about the target situation needs.
II.3.3. Data analysis and findings
This part of the study presents the result of the questionnaires collected from ESP
teachers and 36 students. The main issuses needed to discuss in this part including the


15

expectations about the ESP reading syllabus, topics, grammatical structures, reading skills
and exercises needed for the syllabus.
II.3.3.1. Needs perceived by teachers
As presented in the previous section, this survey questionnaire was designed and
administered to 12 teachers who have been teaching English for at least 4 years.
Section 1: To ask for the teachers’ opinion about difficulties in term of reading
skills.
Information from table 1a shows that the teachers’ responses regarded nearly all kinds
of reading exercises as essential for their inclusion in the reading syllabus. The teachers
were asked to identified how often their students have difficulties with the exercises. The
number of responses for each item is shown in table 1a, in which the figures in column 3, 4,
5, 6, 7, 8 represent the numbers of teachers who rank the items in the questionaire.
The procedure followed in the analysis of the findings was to allocate a score (see
column 9) for frequency of difficulties in terms of reading exercises to each item in the list.
A six-point scale was used with 6 points for Not Applicable (N/A), 5 points for Very
often (VO), 4 points for Often (O), 3 points for Sometimes (S), 2 points for Rarely (R) and
1 point for Never (N). Using this method we can obtain the highest scores for items that
teachers perceived as those with which they experience difficulties most frequently.
As can be seen from the table 1a, the items that cause difficulties most frequently to
students are those which have the highest scores, including item 14 (60 points) -Describe
the author’s attitude implied in the text; item 15 (59 points ) -Choosing the option that best

describe the author’s attitude and item 16 (64 points) -Identifying the information that is
not explicitly stated in a paragraph item.
According to the teachers, the items that their students rarely have difficulties with are
those which have the lowest scores, including item 8 (35 points) -Answering
comprehension questions; item 11 (36 points) -Rearranging paragraphs into a text and
item 12 (36 points) -Rearranging sentences into paragraph(s). Consequently, exercises of
item 8, 11 and 12 seem to be the easiest skill for their students.


16

Table 1 a: Teachers’s perceptions of their students’ frequencies of reading difficulties.
Frequency of difficulties
Items

Reading
exercises

VO

Total

O

S

R

N

N/A

2

7

2

0

0

38

2

3

5

1

1

0

40

1

4

4

2

1

0

46

2

2

5

3

0

0

39

0

2

3

6

0

1

47

specific 3

2

4

0

2

1

43

3

2

3

0

0

44

score

Understanding the
main point of the
1

text
Matching

the

titles

and 1

paragraph
Matching
2

the

headlines and
Paragraph
Skimming

Choosing one of

3

the title that fits
the text best
Choosing

4

the

main ideas of the
reading passage

5

Choosing

the

topics

are

that

dealt
with in the text
Scanning

Scanning the text

6

for

information
7

Summarizing

a 4


17

text
Answering
comprehension
8

1

5

4

2

0

0

35

2

3

6

1

0

0

42

words based on 1

3

5

3

0

0

38

0

5

4

2

1

0

36

1

3

3

5

0

0

36

to 0

0

4

5

0

3

40

questions
Guessing

the

meaning of new
words in a text
Guessing
9

the

meaning of new
words based on
the context

Guessing

the

meaning of new

10

the

word

formation
Recognise

text

organisation

11

Rearranging
paragraphs into a
text
Rearranging

12

sentences into
paragraph(s)

Choosing
putting

13

sentences

and
phrases/

where they fit in a
text
Understanding the


18

author’s attitude
Describe
14

the

author’s attitude

1

1

3

0

0

7

60

1

1

2

1

0

7

59

explicitly 1

2

1

0

0

8

64

Implied in the text
Choosing

the

option that best
15

describe

the

author’s attitude
Inferring
Indentifying

the

information that is
16

Not
stated

in

a

paragraph
Section 2: Teachers’ perception of their students’ interest in Reading topics
In this term, the teachers are asked about which topics their students are interested in.
Basing on the requirements of the MOET, the compulsory textbooks, English tests of
recent national examinations, twelve major topics were identified for analysis. As indicated
in table 1b, column 3, 4, 5, 6 show the number of teachers who rank the level of interest of
each item to their students.
A four point scale was used for analysis of the findings with 4 points for Very
interesting (VI), 3 points for Interesting (I), 2 points for Rather interesting (RI), 1 points for
Not interesting at all (NI). In column 7, the total score is presented.
As can be seen from table 1b, the level of interest of these topics which is shown in the
total score is rather different. Item 4 - Nature obtains the highest score of all (45 points).
Item 2 - Education ranks the second with 43 points. Surprisingly, item 1 - Cultural
diversity, item 3 - Community and item 7 - Science and technology gain the same score (41
points) - rank the third. The items which get the lowest scores are item 10 - AIDS with 25
points and item 11 - Transportation (26 points). Consequently, the low score of items
represents that they should not be included in the syllabus.


19

Table 1b: Teachers’ perception of their students’ interest in Reading topics

Total
Item

Level of interest

Topics

score

VI

I

RI

NI

1

Cultural diversity

6

5

1

0

41

2

Education- Special education

8

3

1

0

43

3

Community

7

3

2

0

41

4

Nature

9

3

0

0

45

8

1

2

1

40

5

4

2

1

37

8

2

1

1

41

3

4

3

2

32

Entertainment:

5

hobbies,

Asian Games, SEAgames
People and places: famous

6

People and places

7

Science and technology
Population growth: problems

8

and solutions

9

Health

4

4

3

1

35

10

AIDS

1

2

6

3

25

11

Transportation

1

2

7

2

26

3

3

5

1

32

English

12

language

learning languages

and

Section 3:
This section aims at finding out the language items that are necessary to include in the
syllabus. Fifteen- language items were specified. The teachers were asked to choose those
that needed to consolidate in the syllabus. The number of respondents is presented in Table
1c with column 3 and 4 representing the number and percentage of teachers choosing each
item.
As can be seen from Table 1c that most of the teachers believe their students should be
taught the most difficult grammatical items in grade 11. It can be inferred that their
students have a very good command of English grammar. Meanwhile, it reveals that


20

teachers still focus on the teaching of grammar which isn’t appropriate to objectives
specified by MOET.

In conclusion, those that get the highest percentage 100% include item 2 - Verb and
verb phrases, item 9 - Conditional, item 11 - Inversion, item 12 - Subjunctive. The low
percentage of other items suggests that they should not be included in the syllabus, such as
item 4 - Emphatic - structure, item 15 - Comparison, item 3 - Tenses and the sequences of
tenses.
Table 1c: Teachers’ perceptions of language items needed by their students
Number of

Percentage of

teachers

respondents

Nouns and noun phrases

10

83,3 %

2

Verbs and verb phrases

12

100%

3

Adjectives and adjectival phrases

7

58,3%

4

Adverb and adverbial phrases

8

66,6%

12

100%

Item

Grammar structure

1

5

Prepositions

and

prepositional

phrases

6

Conjunction

11

91,6%

7

Tenses and the sequence of tenses

6

50%

8

Indirect / Direct speech

11

91,6%

9

Conditionals

12

100%

10

Infinitive / Gerund

10

83,3%

11

Inversion

12

100%

12

Subjunctive

12

100%

13

Special cases of the passive

9

75%

14

Emphatic structure

4

33,3%

15

Comparison

5

41,6%