A study on the problem face by students in reading english for business at university of economics and business administration thai nguyen university and some implications

VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF LANGUAGES
AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF POST GRADUATE
STUDIES ---o0o---

ĐẶNG THỊ NGỌC ANH

A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN READING
ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS
ADMINSTRATION – THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY AND SOME
IMPLICATIONS

Tìm hiểu những khó khăn trong việc đọc hiểu tiếng Anh Thương mại
của sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh tế và Quản trị Kinh doanh – Đại học
Thái Nguyên và một số giải pháp

M.A. Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10

HANOI – 2010


VIETNAM NATIONAL UNIVERSITY, HANOI UNIVERSITY OF
LANGUAGES AND INTERNATIONAL STUDIES DEPARTMENT OF
POST GRADUATE STUDIES ---o0o---

ĐẶNG THỊ NGỌC ANH

A STUDY ON THE PROBLEMS FACED BY STUDENTS IN READING
ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND

BUSINESS ADMINSTRATION – THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY AND
SOME IMPLICATIONS

Tìm hiểu những khó khăn trong việc đọc hiểu tiếng Anh Thương mại
của sinh viên trường Đại học Kinh tế và Quản trị Kinh doanh – Đại
học Thái Nguyên và một số giải pháp
M.A. Minor Thesis

Field: English Teaching Methodology
Code: 60 14 10
Supervisor: Phạm Thị Hạnh, MA.

HANOI – 2010


TABLES OF CONTENTS
PART ONE: INTRODUCTION............................................................................................................. 1
1. Rationale............................................................................................................................................... 11
2. The significance of the study........................................................................................................... 12
3. Aims of the study................................................................................................................................ 12
4. Method of the study........................................................................................................................... 12
5. Scope of the study.............................................................................................................................. 12
6. Organization of the study.................................................................................................................. 13
Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW.................................................................................................. 14
1.1. ESP Teaching and Learning............................................................................................... 14
1.1.1. Definitions of ESP....................................................................................................... 14
1.1.2. Types of ESP................................................................................................................. 15
1.1.3. The differences between General English and ESP............................................. 18
1.2. Business English – a type of ESP..................................................................................... 20
1.2.1. Introduction of Business English............................................................................. 20

1.2.2. Characteristics of Business English......................................................................... 21
1.2.3. Performance objectives for Business English....................................................... 22
1.2.4. Content of Business English course........................................................................ 23
1.3. Summary................................................................................................................................ 24
Chapter 2: THE PRESENT SITUATION OF TEACHING AND LEARNING ENGLISH
FOR BUSINESS AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS
ADMINISTRATION (TUEBA).......................................................................................................... 25
2.1. Introduction of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration
and its students.............................................................................................................................. 25
2.2. Objectives of the ESP course at TUEBA....................................................................... 26
2.3. Materials of the ESP course............................................................................................... 26
2.4. The problems in teaching and learning ESP at TUEBA............................................. 27
2.4.1 Problems on the part of the teachers....................................................................... 27
2.4.2 Problems on the part of the students....................................................................... 27
2.5. Summary................................................................................................................................ 27
Chapter 3: RESEARCH METHODOLOGY.................................................................................... 29
3.1. Research questions............................................................................................................... 29
3.2. Participants............................................................................................................................ 29
3.3. Data collection method....................................................................................................... 30
3.3.1. Data collection instrument......................................................................................... 30
3.3.2. Data collection procedure.......................................................................................... 30


3.3.3. Data analysis................................................................................................................. 31
3.4. Summary................................................................................................................................ 31
Chapter 4: FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION.................................................................................... 32
4.1. Questionnaire Results and Interpretation....................................................................... 32
4.1.1. Student’s purposes of learning English and learning to read English..............32
4.1.2. Attitudes towards foreign language skills in the students’ future work and the
role of ESP teaching and learning........................................................................................ 33

4.1.3. Views on ESP teaching and learning materials..................................................... 35
4.1.3.1. Students’ favorite reading materials................................................................ 35
4.1.3.2. Difficult materials to teach and learn.............................................................. 35
4.1.3.3. Attitudes towards the current ESP reading materials.................................. 36
4.1.4. Students’ difficulties in dealing with the ESP reading materials......................37
4.1.4.1. Vocabulary............................................................................................................. 37
4.1.4.2. Grammar................................................................................................................ 39
4.1.4.3. Reading skill......................................................................................................... 39
4.1.5. The causes...................................................................................................................... 41
4.1.6. Students’ expectations to improve their ESP reading skill................................. 42
4.1.6.1. Materials................................................................................................................ 42
4.1.6.2. Teaching methodology........................................................................................ 43
4.1.6.3. Students’ activities............................................................................................... 45
4.2. Discussions............................................................................................................................ 45
4.2.1. The students’ difficulties in dealing with ESP reading texts and materials....46
4.2.2. The causes of the students’ difficulties................................................................... 46
4.3. Summary................................................................................................................................ 47
Chapter 5: IMPLICATIONS FOR IMPROVING READING SKILLS OF BUSINESS
ENGLISH FOR STUDENTS AT TUEBA........................................................................................ 47
5.1. For the students..................................................................................................................... 48
5.1.1. Awareness of the importance of reading skill and role of the ESP course.....48
5.2.2. Development of reading strategies and techniques.............................................. 48
5.2.3. Development of extensive reading habits.............................................................. 50
5.2. For the teachers..................................................................................................................... 50
5.2.1. Improvement of background knowledge of Business......................................... 50
5.2.2. Enhancement of ESP teaching methodology......................................................... 51
5.3. For the materials................................................................................................................... 55
5.3.1. Improvement of reading materials........................................................................... 55
5.2.3. Awareness of the student’s needs in designing the materials............................. 56
5.4 Summary................................................................................................................................. 57

PART THREE: CONCLUSION........................................................................................................... 58


1. Summary of the study........................................................................................................................ 58
2. Limitations and suggestions for further study............................................................................. 59
REFERENCES........................................................................................................................................... 60
APPENDIX
Questionnaire for the students (English version)
Questionnaire for the students (Vietnamese version)
Questionnaire for the teachers (English version)


LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS
EAP

English for Academic Purposes

EBP

English for Business Purposes

EFL

English as Foreign Language

EGAP

English for General Academic Purposes

EGBP

English for General Business Purposes

EGP

English for General Purposes

ELP

English for Legal Purposes

ELT

English Language Teaching

EMP

English for Medical Purposes

EOP

English for Occupational Purposes

ESP

English for Specific Purposes

EST

English for Science and Technology

TNUT

Thai Nguyen University of Technology

TUAF

Thai Nguyen University of Agriculture and Forestry

TUEBA

Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration


TABLE OF FIGURES AND CHARTS
Figure 1: ESP classification by experience (Robinson, 1991: 3-4)................................................. 16
Figure 2: ESP classification by professional area (Evans, T. D. and St John, 1998: 6)..............17
Figure 3: Continuum of ELT course types (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:9)........................ 18

Chart 1: Student’s purposes of learning English.................................................................................. 32
Chart 2: Student’s purposes of learning to read English.................................................................... 33
Chart 3: Attitudes towards foreign language skills in students’ future work................................. 34
Chart 4: Views of the role of ESP course............................................................................................... 34
Chart 5: Students’ favorite reading materials........................................................................................ 35
Chart 6: Types of difficult texts and materials...................................................................................... 36
Chart 7: Attitudes towards current ESP reading materials................................................................. 37
Chart 8: Students’ difficulties in vocabulary......................................................................................... 38
Chart 9: Students’ difficulties in grammar............................................................................................. 39
Chart 10: Students’ difficulties in reading skill.................................................................................... 40
Chart 11: Causes of students’ difficulties............................................................................................... 41

Chart 12: Students’ expectations of ESP reading materials............................................................... 43
Chart 13: Students’ expectations of teaching methodology.............................................................. 44
Chart 14: Students’ activities to improve their ESP reading skill.................................................... 45


PART ONE: INTRODUCTION
1. Rationale
English for Specific Purpose, or ESP for short, is a pedagogy in which the syllabus,
contents and methods are determined according to the needs of learners' specialized subjects
(Ping Duan & Weiping Gu, 2004:1). In the past 20 years, the explosion in business and
communication technology has revolutionized the field of English language teaching, and has
radically shifted the attention of course designers from teaching English for Academic
Purposes to teaching English for more specialized purposes. ESP can be regarded as an
indispensable part of our life, without which a lot of good opportunities may be missed.
ESP teaching has become a popular trend in English language teaching in the world in
general and in Vietnam in particular, especially since Vietnam joined the international
economy. Nowadays, ESP is one of the main subjects taught in the curriculum in most
universities and colleges in Vietnam. The main objective of ESP courses is to prepare
thousands of specialists for the language required by the learner’s future work, or overseas
studies.
English for Business is a novel development of English for Specific Purposes brought
about by the demand of society for improving students' abilities in communicating business
information. At Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration
(TUEBA), the students are trained with their Business profession mostly in their mother
tongue. After completing General English in the first three semesters, they advance from the
first glimpse to more in-depth lessons of English for Business with the aim of acquiring the
ability to read and understand their professional knowledge in English and serving their
further study as well as future jobs. However, the problem is that the students are rarely
satisfied with their reading comprehension in reading ESP text and materials despite their
efforts. They are sometimes blamed for having poor reading skill or not making enough effort.

Nevertheless, the students are not always at fault. Other factors such as materials, teaching
methods, the teaching and learning attitude must also be considered.
As a matter of fact, it is necessary to have a close look at and find out the reasons for
the difficulties students’ encounter at TUEBA in dealing with their materials in English for


Business. On identifying the problems, it is hoped that the study will propose some possible
suggestions for improving students’ ESP reading skills.
2. The significance of the study
The study highlights the difficulties that students at Thai Nguyen University of
Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA) encounter when dealing with their
specialized materials. Basing on these, solutions can be proposed in order to help students to
overcome the problems and improve their reading comprehension in English for Business
effectively. It is hoped that the findings of this study will be useful for both students and
teachers of ESP at TUEBA and other institutions as well.
3. Aims of the study
The primary purposes of this study are to describe the problems of ESP students in
dealing with their reading materials at TUEBA, their causes and how to reduce the difficulties.
In particular, the study is designed with the hope to achieve the aims as follows:
 To discover students and teachers’ attitudes towards ESP teaching and learning

at TUEBA;
 To investigate the present situation of ESP teaching and learning at TUEBA in

order to identify the students’ difficulties in ESP reading and their causes;
 To propose some recommendations to help students overcome the challenges in

order to improve their ESP reading skills.
4. Method of the study

For the purpose of the study, data is collected through the application of the
questionnaire technique. The information from the survey will then be paraphrased in order to
find out the situation of ESP teaching and learning at TUEBA; students’ problems and their
causes. As such, descriptive statistics of simple percentages will be used.
The instruments used to develop this study are chosen according to the needs of the
students such as: pen, paper and questionnaire format.
5. Scope of the study
The focus of the study is mainly on investigating some linguistic problems related to
ESP reading skills of the students at Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business


Administration. After that, suggestions will be recommended so as to reduce the difficulties
and help students learn ESP more effectively.
6. Organization of the study
There are three main parts in this study including: Introduction, Development and
Conclusion
The Introduction part of the study covers the rationale for the study, the significance,
aims, methods, scope as well as the organization of the study.
The Development part of the study consists of 5 chapters as follows:
Chapter 1 provides a theoretical framework for the study, including, definitions and
types of ESP, ESP related issues, and typical features of English for Business.
Chapter 2 discusses the present situation, materials, as well as the objectives of
teaching and learning English for Business at TUEBA. The main focus is placed on the
problems faced by the students when reading English texts and document for Business.
Chapter 3 reports the methodology used in the research including research questions,
participants, instruments and the procedures for data collection and analysis.
Chapter 4 reports and discusses the major findings.
Chapter 5, the last part of this section, offers suggestions to reduce difficulties and help
the students to effectively improve their ESP reading skills.
The Conclusion part summarizes what is addressed in the study, points out the

limitations, draws pedagogical implications and provides some suggestions for further study.


PART TWO: DEVELOPMENT
Chapter 1: LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter aims at providing a theoretical background to the study. For this purpose,
the chapter will review the issues most relevant to the focus of the study.
1.1. ESP Teaching and Learning
1.1.1. Definitions of ESP
ESP is generally used to refer to the teaching of English for a clearly utilitarian
purpose. This purpose is usually defined with reference to some occupational requirement, e.g.
for international operators, civil airline pilots etc., or vocational training programs, e.g. for
hotel and technical trades etc., or some academic or professional study e.g. engineering,
medicine, law, etc.
Though ESP has had a relatively long time to mature, it is defined differently by many
scholars. Some ESP scholars described ESP as simply being the teaching of English for any
purpose that could be specified. Others, however, were more precise, describing it as the
teaching of English used in academic studies or the teaching of English for vocational or
professional purposes (Anthony, A. 1999).
Based on the concepts of Strevens, P. (1988), Dudley-Evans and St. John (1998)
adopted an extended definition of ESP in terms of its ‘absolute’ and ‘variable’ characteristics.
According to them, in terms of absolute characteristics, ESP (1) is defined to meet specific
needs of the learner, (2) makes use of the underlying methodology and activities of the
discipline it serves, and (3) is centered on the language (grammar, lexis, register), skills,
discourse and genres appropriate to these activities. In terms of the variable characteristics,
ESP (1) may be related to or designed for specific disciplines, (2) may use, in specific teaching
situations, a different methodology from that of general English, (3) is likely to be designed
for adult learners, either at a tertiary level institution or in a professional work situation, and
could also be for learners at secondary school level, (4) is generally designed for intermediate
or advanced students, (5) assume some basic knowledge of the language system and can be

used with beginners.


The definition Dudley-Evans offered is clearly influenced by that of Strevens (1988),
although he has improved it substantially by removing the absolute characteristic that ESP is
"in contrast with 'General English'" (Johns and Dudley-Evans, 1991: 298), and has revised
and increased the number of variable characteristics. The division of ESP into absolute and
variable characteristics, in particular, is very helpful in resolving arguments about what is and
is not ESP. From the definition, we can see that ESP can be but is not necessarily concerned
with a specific discipline, nor does it have to be aimed at a certain age group or ability range.
ESP should be seen simply as an 'approach' to teaching, or what Dudley-Evans describes as an
'attitude of mind'. Such a view echoes that of Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. (1987:19) who
stated, "ESP is an approach to language teaching in which all decisions as to content and
method are based on the learner's reason for learning".
Along the same lines, Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. (1987) proposed a broader
definition of ESP. They theorized ESP to be an approach to language teaching in which all
decisions as to content and method are based on the learner’s reason for learning. As for them,
“ESP – is an approach not a product – does not involve a particular kind of language,
teaching material or methodology” (Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. 1987: 16).
It can be seen from the definitions that ESP courses are purposeful so “the growth of
ESP was brought about by a combination of three important factors: the expansion of demand
for English to suit particular needs and developments in the field of linguistics and
educational psychology” (Hutchinson, T. and Waters, A. 1987: 8).
Accordingly, ESP teachers should be aware of the matter and should not concentrate on
teaching general English, but focus primarily on satisfying their students’ needs for the
language in different fields of specialization in order to use the language linguistically correct
on paper or verbally.
1.1.2. Types of ESP
It is a fact that there are many types of ESP, however, the main focus of all the
classifications of ESP cover the two main areas such as English for Academic Purposes (EAP)

and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP).


The types of ESP will be easily seen in a tree diagram according to different views.
Firstly, there comes the traditional Robinson’s tree diagram showing a distinction between the
two areas.

ESP

Figure 1: ESP classification by experience (Robinson, 1991: 3-4)
In this ESP tree, EAP involves pre-experience, simultaneous/in-service and postexperience courses while EOP is for study in a specific discipline (pre-study, in-study, and
post-study) or as a school subject (independent or integrated). Pre-experience or pre-study
course will omit any specific work related to the actual discipline or work as students will not
yet have the needed familiarity with the content; the opportunity for specific or integrated
work will be provided during in-service or in-study courses.
In addition to this, ESP can be divided into EAP and EOP according to discipline or
professional area as is shown in the tree provided by Dudley – Evans and St John as follows:
ENGLISH FOR SPECIFIC PURPOSES
English for Academic Purposes

English for

English for Occupational Purposes

English


(Academic)
Science and
Technology

(Acade
Medica
Purpos


English
for
Medical
Purposes

Figure 2: ESP classification by professional area (Evans, T. D. and St John, 1998: 6)
As it can be seen from the tree diagram above, a) EAP involves English for
(Academic) Science and Technology (EST), English for (Academic) Medical Purposes (EMP),
English for (Academic) Legal Purposes (ELP), and English for Management, Finance and
Economics; b) EOP includes English for Professional Purposes (English for Medical Purposes,
English for Business Purposes – EBP) and English for Vocational Purposes (Pre-vocational
English and Vocational English). In EAP, EST has been the main area, but EMP and ELP have
always had their place. EOP refers to English for professional purposes in administration,
medicine, law and business, and vocational purposes for non-professionals in work (language
of training for specific trades or occupations) or pre-work situations (concerned with finding a
job and interview skills). In this classification, English for Business Purpose (EBP) is a
category within EOP.
The problem is that the classification of ESP courses creates numerous problems which
fail to capture the fluid nature of the various types of ESP teaching and the degree of overlap
between “common-core” EAP and EBP and General English. For example, Business English
can be seen as mediating language between the technicalities of a particular business and the
language of the general public (Picket, 1989); then, it can be put in a position between English
for General Purposes (EGP) and specialist English.
Therefore, Dudley-Evans and St John (1998) considered the whole of ELT should be

on a continuum that runs from General English courses to very specific ESP courses as follow:


Position 1
English for

Intermediate

beginners

to advanced
EGP courses
with a focus
on particular
skills

Figure 3: Continuum of ELT course types (Dudley-Evans and St John, 1998:9)
As in the positions 2 and 3, it is only the overall context of the program that decides
whether a particular course is classified as ESP or not. At position 4, the course is specified in
terms of the skills taught. It is, at this point, important to choose appropriate skills to focus on
- e.g., some businessmen will need to read some business journals, others will need

communication skills to deal with their partners. The groups seem not to be homogenous from
one discipline or profession (scientists, engineers, lawyers, doctors), so the individual
members can need texts dealing with their specific profession. Lastly, the course, at position 5,
becomes really specific – the key feature of such courses is that teaching is flexible and
tailored to individual or group needs.
In short, on studying different types of ESP, ESP teachers will have an overall picture
of the groups of learners that he/ she is going to work with. This is an initially important step
enabling the teacher to succeed in improving ESP reading skill for the learners.

1.1.3. The differences between General English and ESP
The question of the differences between ESP and English for General Purposes (EGP)
has been widely addressed in literature. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987), there is
no difference between the two in theory; however, there is a great deal of differences in
practice. In deed, ESP differs from EGP in the sense that the words and sentences learned, the
subject matter discussed, all relate to a particular field or discipline. The design of syllabuses
for ESP is directed towards serving the needs of learners seeking for or developing themselves


in a particular occupation or specializing in a specific academic field. ESP courses make use of
vocabulary tasks related to the field such as negotiation skills and effective techniques for oral
presentations. A balance is created between educational theory and practical considerations.
ESP also increases learners' skills in using English.
In order to find out the differences between ESP and EGP, it is necessary to have a
closer look at both EGP and ESP. EGP is one of the compulsory subjects in junior and senior
high schools in Vietnam. Learners are introduced to the sounds and symbols of English, as
well as to the lexical/grammatical/rhetorical elements that compose spoken and written
discourse. There is no particular situation targeted in this kind of language learning. Moreover,
EGP also focuses on applications in general situations such as appropriate dialogue with
restaurant staff, bank tellers, postal clerks, telephone operators, English teachers, and party
guests as well as lessons on how to read and write the English typically found in textbooks,
newspapers and magazines articles, telephone books, shopping catalogues, application forms,
personal letters, e-mail, and home pages. Supplementary information about appropriate
gestures, cultural conventions, and cultural taboos is also normally included in EGP
curriculums. EGP conducted in English-speaking countries is typically called ESL, and EGP
conducted in non-English-speaking countries is normally called EFL. EGP is typically
regarded as a level that precedes higher-level instruction in ESP if ESP programs are to yield
satisfactory results.
In contrast ESP, as it is defined, is to meet specific needs of the learners. It is designed
to prepare students or working adults for the English needed in specific disciplines, vocations,

or professions to accomplish specific purposes. For this reason, ESP is said to be built on an
assessment of purposes and needs and the functions for which English is required. ESP
concentrates more on language in context than on teaching grammar and language structures.
It covers subjects varying from accounting or computer science to tourism and business
management. The ESP focal point is that English is not taught as a subject separated from the
students' real world (or wishes); instead, it is integrated into a subject matter area important to
the learners. There is no fixed methodology of ESP that can be applied in all situations. ESP


makes use of methodology and activities of the discipline it serves, and is centered on the
language appropriate to these activities.
1.2. Business English – a type of ESP
1.2.1. Introduction of Business English
For the last two or three decades, Business English has attracted increasing interest and
awareness, though it is an area which is often neglected by linguistics researchers, who prefer
to work on other-easily defined areas of special English. Business English course books and
other teaching/learning materials are proliferating, and language schools offering Business
English courses are blossoming. Several developments may have contributed to the expansion
of Business English, but speaking from the pedagogical point of view, the demand for
Business English must have originated from a particular kind of learner, often adults, who
already had both grammatical knowledge of English, and also a specific purpose in learning
English. In short, they were looking for a different approach, one which would provide them
with an opportunity to use this knowledge more productively than had been previously
possible, and therefore approached Business English courses with heightened expectations.
According to Johns and Dudley-Evans (1991), Business English “requires the careful
research and design of pedagogical materials and activities for an identifiable group of adult
learners within a specific learning content”, moreover, it “is designed to meet specified needs
of the learner” (Strevens, 1988).
As it can be seen from the above-mentioned ESP classification, Business English is an
area of ESP, and must be seen in the overall context of ESP, because it relies on and utilizes

elements common to all fields of work in ESP, such as needs analysis, syllabus design,
selection and development of teaching/learning materials, course design etc. Just like other
varieties of ESP, BE works with a number of contexts, requires and uses specific language
corpora, and lays emphasis on specific kinds of communication.
However, as Ellis, M. and Johnson, C. (1994: 3) stated, “Business English differs from
varieties of ESP in that it is often a mix of specific content (relating to a particular job area or
industry), and general content (relating to general ability to communicate more effectively,
especially in business situations)”.


Teaching Business English is believed to be the teaching of English to adults working
in businesses, or preparing to work in the field of business, i.e. a needs-directed teaching in
which as much as possible must be made job-related, focused on learners’ needs and relevant
to them. Successful use of English is seen in terms of a successful outcome to the business
transaction. Cost-effectiveness is required by both adults paying for themselves, and
companies sponsoring their staff, so learners’ bosses and supervisors, or the person setting up
the language training in a company may expect reports on learners’ progress on a regular
basis. Business is competitive, and learners’ attendance can even be tracked, especially if the
company is financing the course. Courses may be long or short. Classes may be taught incompany or in a language school or other rented facilities.
1.2.2. Characteristics of Business English
People around the world conduct business meetings in English even though this
language may be a foreign language to all those present. The language that they use will be
neither as rich in vocabulary and expression, nor as culture-bound, as that used by native
speakers, but will be based on a core of the most useful and basic structures and vocabulary.
Businesspeople do not always need to know the full complexities of English grammar and
idioms. Fine distinctions in meaning may not be important in a business context. On the other
hand, in a Business English course some structural areas may require more attention than in a
conventional course: for example, conditionals in negotiating, or modality for expressing
possibility or politeness. There is consequently a need for syllabus designers to be selective
when addressing the needs of Business English learners.

After many years of working with a wide range of pre-experience and especially jobexperienced learners, Ellis, M. and Johnson, C. (1994) have proposed the three particular
characteristics of Business English as sense of purpose, social aspects and clear
communication.
Sense of Purpose
The most important characteristic of exchanges in the context of business meetings,
telephone calls, and discussions is a sense of purpose. Users of Business English need to speak
English primarily so that they can achieve more in their jobs.


Much of the language needed by business people (apart from social language) will be
transactional: getting what you want and persuading others to agree with the course of action
you propose. The language will frequently be objective rather than subjective and personal.
Social aspects
International business people have a need to make contacts with others whom they
have never met before, or know slightly. Meetings are often short because business people are
always pressed for time. There is a need for an internationally accepted way of doing things so
that people from different cultures, and with different mother tongues, can quickly feel more
comfortable with one other.
Clear communication
Information has to be conveyed with minimum risk of misunderstanding, and the time
for processing needs to be short. Therefore, there is a preference for clear, logical, thought
emphasized by the kinds of words that indicate the logical process. There is often a need to be
concise – particularly when communicating by fax or telephone – and certain familiar
concepts may be expressed in word clusters to avoid circumlocution.
1.2.3. Performance objectives for Business English
The most obvious objective behind a Business English course is to fulfill students’
work related needs (Donna 2000:3). Moreover, as already stated, one of the main
characteristics of Business English is the emphasis on performance – training learners to
become operationally effective. For people in business, the priority is to be able to understand
and get their message across, and for the majority of Business English learners many of the

refinements of language are quite simply not relevant.
What the majority of business learners need to acquire could be broadly summarized as
follows:
 Confidence and fluency in speaking
 Skills for organizing and structuring information
 Sufficient language accuracy to be able to communicate ideas without ambiguity and

without stress for the listener
 Strategies for following the main points of fast, complex, and imperfect speech


 Strategies for clarifying and checking unclear information
 Speed of reaction to the utterances of others
 Clear pronunciation and delivery
 An awareness of appropriate language and behavior for the cultures and situations in

which they operate.
Some learners may also need to develop practical reading and writing skills.
In Business English, these performance criteria need to be seen in the context of
specific business situations in which the learner will be involved. If the requirements of a
typical job are analyzed, it can be seen, for example, that the learner has to attend meetings
which are conducted in English, and that he or she has to follow what is going on and be able
to make a contribution.
1.2.4. Content of Business English course
Since courses are set up for different reasons, the content of individual courses may
vary considerably. However, the content of any particular Business English course is usually
quite specific and should always be determined by the students’ needs and objectives. For
example: students want to learn business English for instrumental reasons; some are preparing
for future jobs in which they will use English, whereas others want to learn it to improve their
current job performance in dealing with particular partners or customers. As Donna, S. (2000)

stated: “the most successful courses are the ones which identify appropriate content and fulfill
the students’ needs most completely in the shortest possible time”.
Sharing the same view, Ellis, M. and Johnson, C. (1994: 9) said “the English Business
syllabus is likely to be defined primarily in relation to business performance skills such as
meetings, presentations, socializing, or report-writing”. Within these skill areas, certain
concepts are typically discussed and expressed. These concepts can also be broken down into
the more linguistically powerful functional areas such as comparing and contrasting,
expressing cause an effect, recommending, and agreeing. The language defined in the syllabus
may include grammatical or lexical items, and elements of spoken or written discourse,
including for instance, cohesive devices and stress and intonation patterns, as well as
organizational features such as signaling a new topic or turn taking in interactive sequences.


In other words, Business English focuses on the language of business that students
need in the workplace. This can take the form of:
 Everyday language which is used in social situations
 General business language which can be used in a variety of business contexts
 Context specific language used by a particular industry or profession.

The precise mix of language taught in courses will depend upon the needs of particular
groups of learners.
Business English courses also focus on business communication skills, for example,
making presentations, taking part in meetings and writing reports. Courses tend to give
learners the vocabulary and structure to develop these skills and the chance to practice using
them. (www.teachingenglish.org.uk)
1.3. Summary
It is hoped that most of the related issues to the study have been fully discussed in this
chapter. As we know, due to the result of current economic and political developments in
different parts of the world, Business English is currently undergoing a period of rapid growth.
Indeed, it is becoming the leading branch of ESP. The situation with Business English is in

many ways analogous to the situation with English for Science and Technology and English
for Academic Purposes in the 1970s and 1980s (Dudley – Evans and St John 1996: 39).


Chapter 2: THE PRESENT SITUATION OF TEACHING AND
LEARNING ENGLISH FOR BUSINESS AT THAI NGUYEN
UNIVERSITY OF ECONOMICS AND BUSINESS ADMINISTRATION
(TUEBA)
In order to sense the aim of the thesis, this chapter is expected to give an overall
description of factual teaching and learning ESP in the aspects of objectives, materials,
teachers and students.
2.1. Introduction of Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration
and its students
Thai Nguyen University of Economics and Business Administration (TUEBA) is a
newly established member of Thai Nguyen University, and has been operating for 5 years. The
university is the merger of the Faculty of Agricultural Economics of Thai Nguyen University
of Agriculture and Forestry (TUAF) and the Faculty of Industrial Economics of Thai Nguyen
University of Technology (TNUT). One of its foremost important responsibilities is to train
highly qualified human resources at under-graduate and graduate levels, and non-degree shortterm training. TUEBA has been trying to become a centre of high quality training and
education in the field of economics and business administration, rural development to support
hunger eradication, poverty reduction, and sustainable socioeconomic development in
industrialization and modernization process in midland and mountainous provinces of the
North of Vietnam.
Every year, TUEBA admits students for a course of study of 4 years. The number of
students admitted is increasing more and more each year. After graduating, our students can
easily get a job in the economic field. They can become officers specialized in accounting,
business administration, banking, managing, etc. Many of them quickly get a high position in
their career field.
Students of TUEBA are approximately 19-25 years of age. They come from different
provinces of the North of Vietnam with different living conditions and knowledge background.

Some of them come from far and remote regions where lack a lot of good conditions for living
and learning. Some started learning English at grade 3 whereas some did


not learn English until grade 10 or learned other foreign languages such as French or Russian
at school.
2.2. Objectives of the ESP course at TUEBA
The overall aim of the course is to raise the students’ English proficiency in business
settings as well as to prepare them for successful communication in their future career because
after the graduation they are likely to seek employment in international companies or they may
find themselves working in a company where English is widely spoken, or using English as a
means of communication with other business people from all over the world.
At TUEBA, English is included in the curriculum as a compulsory subject and divided
into two stages. During the first stage which lasts three semesters, students study General
English focusing on developing the four English skills namely listening, reading, speaking and
writing. In the second stage, students learn ESP that accounts for 45 periods. One of the
subject’s prerequisites is that students must complete the previous General English courses. By
the end of the course, learners are expected to be familiar with business terminologies and
write competent English.
2.3. Materials of the ESP course
In ESP teaching and learning, there always exist two resources of materials as
published materials and in-house materials. The former produced by publishers, are assumed
to be qualified. Moreover, this kind of material is compiled by those who have a lot of
experience in their particular fields. The later are usually written by the teachers in training
institutions with a view to the teaching situation in their training institution only. The aim is to
provide students with specialist vocabulary and reading practices in their relevant contexts.
At TUEBA, the textbook namely “English for Economics and Business” used in ESP
teaching and learning is the in-house one. The book has 7 chapters covering different topics
such as Microeconomics and Macroeconomics; Business Management; Finance and
Accounting; International Trade; Marketing; Economic Policies and Issues; and Business

Communication, which are selected from available updated published books and edited
according to the real teaching and learning conditions of the university and to suit the student’s
level of both English proficiency and professional knowledge. Each chapter contains


three main parts as Vocabulary, Discussion and Reading Comprehension, Grammatical Points,
and Assigned Exercises.
2.4. The problems in teaching and learning ESP at TUEBA
2.4.1 Problems on the part of the teachers
The English division has 10 teachers, of which, 8 teachers are from 25 to 30 years old
and the other two are at the age of fifties. Most of them had formal ELT training in different
institutions inside Vietnam, whereas one teacher switched from Russian to English language
teaching; another holds the second degree in Business Administration. Especially, one teacher,
who is specialized in teaching ESP, graduated from the Faculty of Business English of Hanoi
Foreign Trade University. All of the teachers have been to some domestic workshops in
foreign language teaching and some to ESP teaching workshops.
Five out of the division are teachers of GE and in fact, they were trained to become
teachers of GE only but are unexpectedly required to teach ESP that is unfamiliar to them.
Therefore, they face a lot of difficulties in teaching the new subject in terms of the specialized
knowledge and teaching methodology.
In this situation, the teachers have no other choice but try to fulfill their job by learning
and working harder in order to be up to the expectations of the teaching and learning process.
2.4.2 Problems on the part of the students
Most of the students of TUEBA started learning English at their high schools and they
have already studied English for three semesters before learning ESP. Although many of them
have good command of English vocabulary, grammar structures and rules, it is shown that
they are not equally competent in English because GE is quite different from ESP.
Although the students are taught other professional subjects in Vietnamese at the same
time with ESP, their professional knowledge remains poor so they find it difficult to deal with
specialized texts and document in English. The fact is that they have never been in any

particular real business contexts and situations so they are unfamiliar with the business
activities in the courses. As a result, their ESP learning results are not good as expected.
2.5. Summary