Designing an ESP reading syllabus for the second-Year students at the faculty of urban planning Hanoi architectural university (HAU)

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  TR
N TH DUNG




          

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ield: English Teaching Methodology Code: 601410 Supervisor: Dr. Dng Th N






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On the completion of this thesis, I would like to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Dr. Duong Thi Nu, who gave me precious guidance, comments, suggestions and encouragement throughout my research. My special thanks go to all my teachers of the Post-graduate course 13 at Vietnam National University, College of Foreign Languages, Hanoi, for their interesting and useful lectures. I also wish to convey my sincere thanks to all my colleagues and the second-year students at the Faculty of Urban Planning, Hanoi Architectural University, for their contribution to the data collection and their constructive suggestions for this research. Finally, I am grateful to my friends and my family who gave me support and encouragement during the time of fulfilling this work.









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I certify my authority of the Study Project Report submitted entitled 


 



 
 










In total fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master of Arts Tr
n Th Dung September 2007














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This study aims at designing an ESP reading syllabus for the second-year students at the Faculty of Urban Planning, Hanoi Architectural University (HAU) to meet the demand for an appropriate ESP course of the students at this faculty. The study consists of three main parts: Introduction, Development and Conclusion. The Introduction states the rationale, aims and objectives, scope, methods and design of the study. In the main part of the study, the Development, there are three chapters. Chapter 1 presents the review of relevant theories for designing an ESP reading syllabus, namely definition of syllabus, the role of the syllabus, types of ESP syllabus, approaches to syllabus design, steps in syllabus design, needs analysis and reading theories. In chapter 2, basing on an overview of the teaching and learning situation at HAU and the background of the target students, the need analysis was conducted with instruments of questionnaires and interviews to gather information on students’ target needs and learning needs. The data were collected from various sources: the second-year students, the ex-students, the ESP teachers and the subject teachers. The results of the needs analysis provide the basis for the researcher in choosing the appropriate syllabus type, determining the objectives, selecting and sequencing the content of the syllabus. The proposed syllabus for the target students is presented in the last chapter of this part - chapter 3. The Conclusion summarizes the thesis, points out its limitations and proposes suggestions for further study. The proposed syllabus is expected to meet the students’ needs as well as the training objectives of HAU and will make contribution to the improvement of ESP learning and teaching at this university. iv  













Pages Acknowledgement.................................................................................................................i Declaration ...........................................................................................................................ii Abstract................................................................................................................................iii Table of contents .................................................................................................................iv List of abbreviations ...........................................................................................................vi  

  
1. Rationale ...........................................................................................................................1 2. Aims and objectives of the study.......................................................................................2 3. Scope of the study..............................................................................................................2 4. Methods of the study .........................................................................................................2 5. Design of the study............................................................................................................2  

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1.1. Syllabus design...............................................................................................................4 1.1.1 Definition of syllabus....................................................................................................4 1.1.2. The role of the syllabus................................................................................................5 1.1.3. Types of ESP syllabus .................................................................................................6 1.1.3. 1. Grammatical or structural syllabus ..........................................................................6 1.1.3.2. Notional/functional syllabus .....................................................................................6 1.1.3.3. Situational syllabus ...................................................................................................7 1.1.3.4. Topic-based syllabus.................................................................................................7 1.1.3.5. Skill-based syllabus ..................................................................................................7 1.1.3.6. Task-based syllabus ..................................................................................................7 1.1.4. Approaches to syllabus design.....................................................................................8 1.1.4.1. The language-centered approach ..............................................................................8 1.1.4.2. The skills-centered approach ....................................................................................8 1.1.4.3. The learning-centered approach................................................................................9 1.2. Needs Analysis in ESP.................................................................................................10 1.2.1. Needs Analysis ..........................................................................................................10 1.2.2. Types of Needs ..........................................................................................................11 1.2.2.1. Target Needs ...........................................................................................................11 1.2.2.2.Learning Needs ........................................................................................................11 1.3. Reading.........................................................................................................................12 1.3.1. Reading in ESP ..........................................................................................................12 1.3.2. Reading skills/ strategies ...........................................................................................13 1.4. Summary ......................................................................................................................14
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2.1. Introduction..................................................................................................................15 2.2. The teaching and learning situation at HAU .............................................................15 2.3. The target students.......................................................................................................17 2.4. The teaching staff of the English section....................................................................17 2.5. A critical look at the existing syllabus.........................................................................18 2.6. The study ......................................................................................................................19 2.6.1. The subjects ...............................................................................................................19 2.6.2.Instruments for collecting data ...................................................................................19 2.6.3.The findings ................................................................................................................20 2.6.3.1. The findings of the questionnaires..........................................................................20 2.6.3.1.1. Needs perceived by the teachers of the English section ......................................20 2.6.3.1.2. Needs perceived by the subject teachers..............................................................24 2.6.3.1.3. Needs perceived by the target students................................................................24 2.6.3.2.Results from the interviews with the graduates .......................................................25 2.7. Summary ......................................................................................................................26  !
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3.1. Aims and objectives......................................................................................................27 3.2. Selecting a type of syllabus for ESP students at the Urban Planning Faculty, HAU.........28 3.3. Sequencing ...................................................................................................................29 3.3.1. Selecting the content ..................................................................................................29 3.3.1.1. Specific topics in the syllabus.................................................................................29 3.3.1.2. Reading skills and reading exercises ......................................................................29 3.3.1.3. Grammar and structures..........................................................................................30 3.3.2. Grading the items in the syllabus...............................................................................31 3.3.3. The organization of the syllabus................................................................................32 3.3.3.1. Time allocation .......................................................................................................32 3.3.3.2. Quantity and structure of the syllabus ....................................................................32 3.4. Designing tests for the ESP reading course................................................................32 3.5. The proposed syllabus for the second-year students at the Faculty of Urban Planning, HAU ..................................................................................................................33 3.6. Summary ......................................................................................................................33  

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HAU: Hanoi Architectural University ESP: English for Specific Purposes UPF: Urban Planning Faculty 1  


1. Rationale There is no doubt of the importance role that English plays in our society, especially in the process of regional and global integration. People with a good command of English are needed in many fields. This results in the great demand of learning English, manifested by the boom of English centers across the country. At universities, students now realize the importance of English to their future work and they have paid more attention to the study of English, especially English for Specific Purposes as this young branch of English is rarely taught outside their universities. For these students, reading is by far the most important skill as they hardly have opportunity to use communicative English outside the classroom. However, they need to get access to a great number of specialized documents written in English so as to broaden their knowledge about their speciality as well as to obtain up-to- date information in their fields of study. Reading is also very necessary in their future work. Therefore, designing a syllabus focusing on improving students’ ESP vocabulary and their reading skills in ESP is of great importance in order to prepare the students for their future job. At Hanoi Architectural University (HAU), English is a compulsory subject for students of all faculties. It is taught within 2 stages. In the first stage, students learn General English (150 periods) according to Headway Pre-intermediate course book written by John & Liz Soars (1987). After 2 semesters learning General English, they progress on to the ESP (English for Specific Purposes) stage in which they learn 60 periods in their second year at HAU. At this stage, students as well as teachers of English have faced a lot of difficulties due to the lack of an appropriate ESP teaching syllabus. There are 5 faculties at HAU; each has its own specialist characteristics. However, students of these different facilities have to study the same course book “English for Architecture, Civil Engineering, Urban Planning and Urban Infrastructure Techniques” (2002), written by a group of teachers of English at HAU. Unlike what its name suggests, this course book only focuses on Architecture and Civil Engineering, and it is certain that it cannot satisfactorily meet the needs for an ESP course of students coming from 5 different faculties. Therefore, designing an appropriate ESP syllabus for the students of each faculty is necessary. The faculty of Urban Planning is one of the main faculties at HAU, so it is one of the 2 faculty in which the job of designing an ESP reading syllabus should be carried out first. For the above-mentioned reasons, I decided to choose the topic “Designing an ESP reading syllabus for the second-year students at the Urban Planning Faculty, HAU” as the topic of my thesis. 2. Aims and objectives of the study This study aims at designing an ESP reading syllabus for the second-year students at the Urban Planning Faculty, HAU. In order to achieve this aim, the following objectives are set to follow: - To get an overview of the theories related to ESP reading and syllabus design - To identify the needs perceived by the ESP students, the ESP teachers and the subject teachers toward an appropriate reading syllabus for the ESP students of the Urban Planning Faculty - To propose a reading syllabus based on needs analysis 3. Scope of the study This study is initiated and developed from the urgent need to design an effective ESP syllabus for the second-year students at the Urban Planning Faculty, HAU. It is conducted within HAU and focuses on Urban Planning, one of the major professions at the university. Due to the general institutional academic situation, priority is given to reading skill. Within the scope of a minor thesis, this study focuses on the designing process itself; only the basic theories related to ESP reading and syllabus design are presented. 4. Methods of the study In this study, both quantitative and qualitative methods are used. The quantitative method is used to collect data by means of questionnaires. There are three kinds of questionnaires, one aims at the second-year student population learning ESP, another aims at the ESP teachers of the English section and the last aims at the subject teachers at the Urban Planning Faculty, HAU so as to identify the needs for an ESP syllabus from a broad view. The qualitative method is used to collect data through interviews with ex-students of the Urban Planning Faculty as well as through informal discussions with colleagues. 5. Design of the study This study contains three main parts. Part A- Introduction presents the rationale, aims and objectives, scope, methods and the design of the study 3 Part B- Development, which is the main part of the study, consists of three chapters. - Chapter I reviews the literature concerning syllabus design, needs analysis and reading theories - Chapter II describes in details the study including its background, subjects, instruments for collecting data as well as the findings of the study - Chapter III proposes a reading syllabus for the second-year students at the Faculty of Urban Planning basing on the findings of the study Part C- Conclusion includes a summary of the study, limitations and suggestions for further research. 4  

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1.1. Syllabus design 1.1.1 Definition of syllabus In language teaching, syllabus is a common notion and many teachers consider it as a document which says what will (or at least what should) be learnt. But in fact, there have been several different ways in which a syllabus can be defined. Some authors who advocate the narrow view believe that syllabus and methodology should be kept separate whereas some others who adopt a broader view argue that it is difficult to make a distinction between content and tasks. As a supporter of the narrow view, Nunan (1988: 5) draws a clear distinction between syllabus design and methodology: “Syllabus design is seen as being concerned essentially with the selection and grading of content, while methodology is concerned with the selection of learning tasks and activities”. Allen (1984: 49) shared this view with Nunan in claming that “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)”. Different from these scholars, one of the broad view advocators, Yalden (1984: 14) stated that: 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 soci