Designing an english for electrical engineering reading syllabus for the second- Year students of power system at electric power university

1 INTRODUCTION 1. Rationale Over the past few years, together with the development of General English (GE), English for Specific Purposes (ESP) has become an indispensable branch in English Language Teaching (ELT) in Vietnam to meet the growing demand for communicating with foreigners and updating information as well as technology in the fields of electrical engineering, electronics, telecommunications, oil industry, computer science and engineering, etc. By now, ESP has confirmed its position in many universities and colleges in Vietnam. It has become a compulsory subject in the training curriculum. At the Faculty of Power System (FPS), Electric Power University (EPU), students are supposed to study a certain command of ESP. However, ESP teaching has encountered a number of problems such as content burden, inappropriate materials, lack of time, lack of equipment, lack of experienced teachers of ESP. Another problem of great concern of the ESP teachers is the syllabus. Although no one can deny the important role of syllabuses in providing a practical basis for the division of assessment, textbooks and learning time and telling the teachers and students what should be learned…, the existing syllabuses at FFS seem to be inappropriately designed due to the lack of time and experience. The current English for Electrical Engineering syllabus which was designed for second- year students is not an exception. Although being designed with the greatest effort of the English teachers, the EEE syllabus has shown that it fails to satisfy the students’ needs for their study as well as future job. This failure appears due to the lack of interesting topics, lack of motivating tasks, and insufficient exercises…This, perhaps, mainly results from the lack of needs analysis, which is widely accepted as a prerequisite of any syllabus design. Being an ESP teacher, realizing the problems of the EEE syllabus, the author finds that it is urgent to design a more appropriate one. Therefore, the author would like to carry out a study to design an appropriate EEE reading syllabus for the 2nd year students of Power System at EPU. 2. Aims of the study The main aim of the study is to design an appropriate EEE reading syllabus for second – year students at EPU. In order to achieve the main aim, the specific ones are as 2 follows: - To find out the second – year students’ target needs and learning needs for an EEE course. - To suggest an appropriate EEE reading syllabus for the 2nd year students of Power System at EPU basing on their needs analysis. 3. Scope of the study Due to the narrow scope of a minor thesis, this study only focuses on syllabus designing process, but not all the theories relating to syllabus design such as implementing, teaching method and evaluating. It is also limited itself to designing a specific reading syllabus for the 2nd year students of Power System at EPU in accordance with the objectives of the training program for PS students and their needs. 4. Methodology of the study In order to achieve these above aims, the author has reviewed the materials of ESP development and syllabus design to set up a theoretical background for the research. Then, the study uses quantitative methodology to collect data through two questionnaires and informal interviews: - The first questionnaire was designed for students of Power System who are going to learn the English for Electrical Engineering course in the second year. This helps the author find out their target needs and learning needs for an EEE reading course. - The second one was designed for ESP teachers at FFS, EPU to get their suggestions about reading and sub- reading skills, grammar/ structures and tasks/activities to be included in the syllabus. Besides, several informal interviews were carried out with the subject teachers at FPS, EPU to get their suggestions about the topic areas. In addition, the material analysis is also used as a qualitative methodology to find out the characteristics of an ESP materials. After necessary data has been gathered, the author would base on the collected numbers and ratios to interpret the results of the study. Then the findings would be grouped together and compared to find out the important factors relating to the proposal of a reading syllabus for 2nd year students of Power System at EPU. 5. Organization of the thesis The study consists of three major parts (Introduction, Development and Conclusion), a list of references and appendixes. 3 Part I: Introduction presents the rationale, aim, scopes, methodology and the design of the study. Part II: Development includes three important chapters. - Chapter I, Literature Review, provides the theory of ESP and syllabus design. - Chapter II, Needs Analysis, analyzes students’ needs, both target needs and learning needs to provide the basis for the EEE syllabus in chapter III. - Chapter III, EEE syllabus, suggests two types of syllabus: the general syllabus which outlines the topics and tasks; the detailed one provides more detailed information about the functions, grammar, vocabulary, content grading, ... Also some suggestions for designing materials, teaching and assessing are available in this chapter. Part III: Conclusion aims at summarizing the main ideas of the study, offering some implications for designing ESP syllabuses and teaching EEE at FFS, EPU. Appendixes includes the questionnaires, interviews and a sample unit. 4 DEVELOPMENT Chapter I. LITERATURE REVIEW I.1. An overview of ESP I.1.1. Definition of ESP The globalization and the growth of science, technology and commerce have generated demands for an international language which, for various reasons, most notably the domination of the world by the economic power of the United States, is English. English teaching and learning has therefore become a big business. The demands and requirements for English have resulted in the expansion of one branch of English for Specific Purposes (ESP). The demand for this has come from groups of learners who wish to learn English for particular reasons connected with their study or their jobs. This gives some initial indications of what ESP is. Researchers have developed a number of definitions of ESP, most of which consider the learners’ needs the most important element of ESP. Munby (1978) states: “ESP courses are those where the syllabus and materials are determined in all essentials by the prior analysis of the communication needs of the learners”. Hutchinson and Waters (1987) share the same view with Munby who define: “ESP is an approach to language teaching which aims to meet the needs of particular learners”. Kenedy and Bolitho (1984), when mentioning approaches to ESP, believe that: “ESP has its basis in an investigation of the purposes of the learners and the set of communication needs arising from those purposes”. And Robinson (1991), while discussing what criteria to ESP are, also emphasizes the students’ needs element of ESP: “An ESP course is based on a needs analysis, which aims to specify as closely as possible what exactly it is that students have to do through the medium of English”. These definitions reveal that they all have focused on a very important characteristic of ESP, that is any ESP course must be based on the learners’ needs. In other words, ESP could not exist and develop if there were no learners’ needs. This means in practice most of the work done by ESP teachers is concerned with designing an appropriate courses based on learners’ needs. The learners, with specific purposes in mind, understand 5 what they need to learn. When the course meets their demand, and when they find it necessary and relevant for their work or study at present or in the future they will learn with high motivation. For this reason, ESP teachers should pay attention to the learners’ needs in order to design an appropriate syllabus and introduce relevant materials to the course since “ESP should properly be seen not as any particular language product but as an approach to language teaching which is directed by specific and apparent reasons for learning” (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p17). I.1.2. Types of ESP David Carter (1983) identifies three types of ESP: - English as a restricted language - English for Academic and Occupational Purposes - English with specific topics. The language used by air traffic controllers or by waiters are examples of English as a restricted language. Mackay and Mountford (1978) clearly illustrate the difference between restricted language and language with this statement: “the language of international air-traffic control could be regarded as 'special', in the sense that the repertoire required by the controller is strictly limited and can be accurately determined situationally, as might be the linguistic needs of a dining-room waiter or air-hostess. However, such restricted repertoires are not languages, just as a tourist phrase book is not grammar. Knowing a restricted 'language' would not allow the speaker to communicate effectively in novel situation, or in contexts outside the vocational environment (pp. 4-5). The second type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English for Academic and Occupational Purposes. In the 'Tree of ELT' (Hutchinson & Waters, 1987), ESP is broken down into three branches: - English for Science and Technology (EST), - English for Business and Economics (EBE), and - English for Social Studies (ESS). Each of these subject areas is further divided into two branches: English for Academic Purposes (EAP) and English for Occupational Purposes (EOP). An example of EOP for the EST branch is 'English for Technicians' whereas an example of EAP for the EST branch is 'English for Medical Studies'. 6 Hutchinson and Waters (1987) do note that there is not a clear-cut distinction between EAP and EOP: "people can work and study simultaneously; it is also likely that in many cases the language learnt for immediate use in a study environment will be used later when the student takes up, or returns to, a job" (p. 16). Perhaps this explains Carter's rationale for categorizing EAP and EOP under the same type of ESP. It appears that Carter is implying that the end purpose of both EAP and EOP are one in the same: employment. However, despite the end purpose being identical, the means taken to achieve the end is very different indeed. I contend that EAP and EOP are different in terms of focus on Cummins' (1979) notions of cognitive academic proficiency versus basic interpersonal skills. The third and final type of ESP identified by Carter (1983) is English with specific topics. Carter notes that it is only here where the emphasis shifts from purpose to topic. This type of ESP is uniquely concerned with anticipated future English needs of, for example, scientists requiring English for postgraduate reading studies, attending conferences or working in foreign institutions. However, I argue that this is not a separate type of ESP. Rather it is an integral component of ESP courses or programs which focus on situational language. This situational language has been determined based on the interpretation of results from needs analysis of authentic language used in target workplace settings. In short, ESP is classified in different ways. In this paper, following the classification by Hutchinson and Waters (1987) in the ‘Tree of ELT’, the author thinks that English for Electrical Engineering can be classified as a branch of English for Science and Technology. I.2. Syllabus design I.2.1. Definition of the syllabus First, it is necessary to distinguish ‘syllabus design’ from ‘curriculum development’. In the existing literature on language education, the terms ‘curriculum’ and ‘syllabus’ are sometimes used interchangeably, sometimes differentiated, and sometimes misused and misunderstood. Stern (1983) provides an attempt to clarify these two terms: The term ‘curriculum’ is commonly used in two related senses. It refers, first, to the substance of a program of an educational institution or system studies. Thus, we can speak of the school curriculum, the university curriculum, the curriculum of French Schools, or 7 the curriculum of Soviet education. In a more restricted sense, it refers to the course of study or content in a particular subject, such as the mathematics curriculum or the history curriculum. It is, therefore, used as a synonym of what in British universities and schools is sometimes referred to as the ‘syllabus’ for a given subject or course of studies. In recent years, however, the term ‘curriculum’ has come to refer not only to the subject matter or content, but also to the entire instructional process including materials, equipment, examinations, and the training of teachers, in short all pedagogical measures related to schooling or to the substance of a course of studies (p. 434). Following Stern, Nunan (1988:3) suggests that a curriculum is concerned with making general statements about language learning, learning purpose, and experience, and the relationship between teachers and learners, whereas a syllabus is more localized and is based on the accounts and records of what actually happens at the classroom level as teachers and students apply a curriculum to their situation. In this paper, syllabus and curriculum are differentiated based on the distinctions outlined above. A syllabus is a specification of what takes place in the classroom, which usually contains the aims and contents of teaching and sometimes contains suggestions of methodology. A curriculum, however, provides (1) general statements about the rationale about language, language learning and language teaching, (2) detailed specification of aims, objectives and targets learning purpose, and (3) implementation of a program. In some sense, a syllabus is part of a curriculum. The term “syllabus” has been defined in current literature by a number of authors like Munby (1978), Yalden (1984), Nunan (1988), Hutchinson and Waters (1987), and Allen (1984). Some of these authors advocate the narrow view which draws a clear distinction between syllabus design (concerned essentially with the selection and grading of content) and methodology (concerned with the selection of learning tasks and activities) while others adopt a broader view which argues that the distinction between content and tasks is difficult to sustain with the advent of communicative language teaching. One of the advocates of the narrow view is Allen (1984, p.61) as Nunan (1988) quotes: “Syllabus…is concerned with a specification of what units will be taught (as distinct from how they will be taught, which is a matter for methodology)” (p.5). Sharing Allen’s view, Tom Hutchinson and Waters (1987, p.80) state that: “a 8 syllabus is a document which says what will (or at least what should) be learnt”. Clearly, Allen and Tom Hutchinson and Waters believe that syllabus and methodology should be two distinctive separate parts. In contrast to such views, some other authors like Yalden, Breen support broader view that the selection of content to teach and the methodology are combined in the syllabus, arguing that with the advent of communicative language teaching, the distinction between the content and task is difficult to sustain. One of the specialists proposing the broader view is Yalden (1984). He points out: “The 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 activities which will take place in the classroom” (p.14). Sharing with Yalden’s view, Breen (1984) states that: “Any syllabus will express – however indirectly – certain assumption about the language, about the psychological process of learning and about the pedagogic and social processes within classroom” (p.49). In brief, number of definitions of syllabus from narrow to broader views have just been discussed in this thesis. The author is in favor of the broader view because in the author’s opinion, the syllabus should be a guideline to the teachers; it should tell them not only what to be taught but also how to teach them in the most effective way. Especially in the current context at EPU, the teachers who have never been formally trained to teach ESP will find it very difficult to fulfill their teaching task if the syllabus and then the material contains only content and no task or activities at all. The broader view, therefore, will be applied to design an English for Electrical Engineering reading syllabus for the second year- students at EPU. I.2.2. The role of a syllabus in a course design process a. In language-centered approach According to Hutchinson & Waters (1987:72), the syllabus is the prime generator of the teaching materials, as this model shows: 9 Analyze target situation Write syllabus Write or select texts to illustrate items in syllabus Write exercises to practise items in the syllabus Devise tests for assessing knowledge of the items in the syllabus Figure 1.1. The role of a syllabus in a language- centered approach (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.90) b. In a skills – centered approach Analyze target needs Select interesting and representative texts Devise a hierarchy of skills to exploit the texts Order and adapt the texts as necessary to enable a focus on the required skills Devise activities/ techniques to teach those skills Devise a system to assess the acquisition of the skills Figure 1.2. The role of a syllabus in a skills – centered approach (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.91) 10 In this approach, the syllabus is not a prime generator. According to Hutchinson and Waters (1987:92), the skills and the texts negotiate with each other in the syllabus. The skill syllabus plays a role in the initial selection of the texts and establishes criteria for ordering and adapting them. The texts available, at the same time, will affect what can be focused on in the exercises and assessment. c. In learning- centered approach Figure 1.3. The role of the syllabus in a learning – centered approach (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.93) It is noticeable from the model that in learning- centered approach, the syllabus is divided into two levels. In level 1, the syllabus is called the general syllabus which outlines the topic areas and the communicative tasks of the target situation. This general syllabus can be used as the basis for the initial selection of texts and writing of exercises/ activities. In level 2, a detailed syllabus is generated from the materials selected in level 1. This syllabus is then checked against an independent syllabus produced from the needs analysis to deal with gaps and overlaps. Thus, in this approach, “the syllabus is used creatively as a generator of good and relevant learning activities rather than just a statement of language content...Yet, at the Analyze learning situation Analyze target situation Establish general syllabus of topics and tasks Produce detailed language/skills syllabus Create interesting and enjoyable materials Check language and skills content of material and make necessary adjustments 11 same time, it maintains relevance to target needs”. (Hutchinson and Waters, 1987, p.93) I.3. Needs Analysis in ESP I.3.1 The meaning of Ne