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MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY THESIS A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA RIA VUNG[.]
MINISTRY OF EDUCATION AND TRAINING BA RIA VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY - THESIS A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH-MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY Submitted to the Postgraduate Institute in partial fulfillment of the Master’s degree in TESOL Course code: 8140111 By Ngo Viet Hoai Supervised by Assoc Prof Dr Pham Huu Duc Ba Ria-Vung Tau – 2022 i CONTENTS CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY iii RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS iv ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS v ABSTRACT vi CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study 1.2 Background and Context to the Research 1.3 Objectives of the study 1.4 Research questions 1.5 Scope of the study 1.6 Significance of the study 1.7 Definitions of the terms 1.8 Chapter summary CHAPTER 2: LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Definition of Needs Analysis in teaching and learning language 2.3 Classification of Needs 11 2.4 Models of Needs Analysis 17 2.5 Procedures of Needs Analysis 22 2.6 Conceptual framework 23 CHAPTER RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 26 3.1 Research method 26 3.2 Research Participants 27 3.3 The instrument 29 3.4 Reliability and validity 30 3.5 Research procedure 31 3.6 Summary 31 CHAPTER RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS 32 4.1 Current students’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills 32 ii 4.2 Compare means of eight factors for the current students’ needs 37 4.3 Teachers needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills 37 4.4 The former students’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills 39 4.5 The enterprises’ needs for Foreign Trade Operating Skills 40 4.6 The gaps between the requirements of the students’ needs and other stakeholders 41 4.7 Discussions 42 4.8 Chapter conclusion 45 CHAPTER CONCLUSIONS AND SUGGESTIONS 46 5.1 Conclusions 46 5.2 Suggestions 48 5.3 Implications 49 5.4 Limitations and recommendations 52 REFERENCES 53 APPENDICES 55 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR CURRENT STUDENTS 55 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR TEACHERS 58 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR FORMER STUDENTS 60 APPENDIX QUESTIONNAIRE FOR ENTERPRISES 61 APPENDIX 5: CONSENT FORM 63 iii CERTIFICATE OF ORIGINALITY I certify my authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: A STUDENTS’ NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH-MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES – BA RIA-VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY In terms of the statement of requirements for Theses in Master’s programs issued by the Higher Degree Committee of Postgraduate Institute, Ba Ria Vung Tau University Ba Ria - Vung Tau, July 2022 Ngo Viet Hoai iv RETENTION AND USE OF THE THESIS I hereby state that I, Ngo Viet Hoai, being a candidate for the degree of TESOL accept the requirements of the University relating to the retention and use of Master’s Theses deposited in the Library In terms of these conditions, I agree that the original of my Master’s Thesis deposited in the Library should be accessible for purposes of study and research, in accordance with the normal conditions established by the Librarian for the care, loan, and reproduction for theses Ba Ria - Vung Tau, July 2022 Ngo Viet Hoai v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My special thanks are due to all those who have made great contributions to my thesis completion First and foremost, I would like to express my profound gratitude to Assoc Prof Dr Pham Huu Duc, my supervisor, for his valuable comments and suggestions during the whole research process His dynamism, enthusiasm, vision as well as his patience have deeply inspired me Without his support and guidance, this thesis would never have been completed Secondly, I am very grateful to the Postgraduate Institute of Ba Ria – Vung Tau University who have supported me much time to implement this thesis My sincere thanks also go to my friends and colleagues for all her help and encouragement I would like to thank the research participants who have contributed to this study Last but not least, I warmly thank my family for their countless support, greatest sympathy and unconditional love vi ABSTRACT As the primary goal of English for specific purposes (ESP) is to educate students to utilize English in specific job settings, it is critical for ESP course planners to be aware of student needs to conduct a requirements analysis to help curriculum designers in developing effective ESP courses or programs Thus, a course without a requirements analysis lacks the specific and explicit goals needed to deliver the attention needed for clear and effective outcomes ESP courses that are created without a needs analysis typically have too much or too little teaching to fulfill the needs of the students To find out the reasons for former students’ poor English achievement and what and how the Business English program can be improved in the case of Baria-Vung Tau University, a proper needs analysis (NA) is needed Therefore, this study used a model for Business English courses of Dudley-Evans and St John (1998), and Dudley-Evans (1998) to measure the current students’ needs as well as other stakeholders’ needs in terms of foreign trade operation skills The research found out some valid results to answer the research questions why all stakeholders are interested in foreign trade operation skills course and whether it is a practical subject for English for business program Future research may use this study as the basis to improve the intake of ESP students’ knowledge in order to accelerate the input of ESP learning and hopefully to shorten the learning time CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION 1.1 Rationale of the Study Because the primary goal of ESP is to educate students to utilize English in specific job settings, it is critical for ESP course planners to be aware of student needs (Basturkmen, 2010) Accordingly, conducting a requirements analysis, can assist curriculum designers in developing effective ESP courses or programs A course without a requirements analysis lacks the specific and explicit goals needed to deliver the attention needed for clear and effective outcomes The most essential contribution of requirements analysis to the development of the ESP course is that it aids the course designer in understanding the learners’ needs As a result, course designers may create the best content, resources, pedagogical techniques, assessment criteria, and course evaluation to assist learners achieve their targeted attitude, knowledge, and skills goals Needs analysis, according to Evans et al (2011), is usually considered as the first step in the process According to Hyland (2006), requirements analysis is also considered as a continuous activity that occurs as part of the course development process Important decisions about learning objectives, material selection, instructional tactics, and evaluation may be made by determining the individual requirements of learners in the ESP course (Jin, 2014) Therefore, the historical history, techniques, and execution of the requirements analysis process are all important for ESP practitioners to understand (Evans et al., 2011) From these views above, university ESP courses or programs must recognize these expectations and ensure that the language taught reflects these real-world realities Thus, an awareness of its English language demands should shape the content of university ESP courses relating to Foreign Trade Operating Skills in English for Business 1.2 Background and Context to the Research In today’s globalized world, English is extensively used in a variety of situations, from social to corporate, academic, and scientific fields For decades, there has been an increasing need for studying English for communication, education, and career English Language Teaching (ELT) was created in response to this trend to accommodate the ever-increasing demand of learners who desire to perfect their English language abilities for various purposes English for Specific Purposes (ESP) is a part of ELT that focuses on the needs of learners in specific circumstances including occupation, science, academic, and business As a result, ESP is viewed as a teaching method that can meet specific demands of learners that General English cannot Many earlier language studies have defined ESP differently It is a method of teaching English to students who desire to utilize the language for specific professional, academic, or scientific goals (Robinson, 1980) When analyzing the purpose of ESP, Hutchinson and Waters (1987) asked, “Why does this student need to learn a foreign language?” Regardless of any differences in the definition of ESP, it is a learner-centered English teaching approach that must meet the needs of learners in a target context in some way The purpose of an ESP program is to assist learners to realize their goals of utilizing English in the target setting by combining general English and topic knowledge Special topic matter is critical in ESP programs because it inspires students and ensures that they comprehend the concepts or ideas that the English language is describing (Cozens, 2006, p.7) In this context, English for Business Purposes (or Business English) is a subset of ESP that focuses on teaching English in business, commerce, marketing, and other related professions Learners of Business English gain English language abilities as well as specific business knowledge in terms of terminology, vocabulary, grammar, and skills, which many individuals require to function well at work Making sales pitches, presentations, negotiations, small conversations, attending conferences, business travel, composing emails and reports, reading instructions and technical manuals, and other business circumstances need these talents As a result, proficiency in Business English is required for a successful career To find out the reasons for former student’s poor English achievement and what and how the Business English program can be improved in the case of BariaVung Tau University, a proper Needs Analysis (NA) is needed Iwai et al (1999, p.6) defined NA as follows: “the term needs analysis generally refers to the activities that are involved in collecting information that will serve as the basis for developing a curriculum that will meet the needs of a particular group of students” NA is used to determine “what learners will be required to with the foreign language in the target situation, and how learners might best master the target language during the period of training” (West, 1994, p.1) NA is an important method to collect data and help the course designer find out the language learners need in a target situation, making the language program more consistent with actual contexts in a real life NA may be used to evaluate programs and introduce new ideas to satisfy the requirements of students It gives insight into how learners, teachers, and businesses think about what can be done to help students improve their English skills These viewpoints can be used to tailor an English education to the needs of students and to meet the demands of employers Moreover, because each work entails employing one or more of the abilities more than the others, a NA is also useful in evaluating which skills among listening, speaking, writing, and reading are priority in a certain occupational function Thus, conducting a NA seems to be an appropriate strategy to find out the type of English students’ need for their career in the field of foreign trade From these current situations, it is necessary to conduct a Needs Analysis to collect information about perspectives of learners, teachers, former students, and employers in relation to their satisfaction level with the English program provided at the university and suggestions to improve the quality of student’s performance in handling foreign trade activities Although the needs of stakeholders (enterprises, teachers, former students, and current students) may vary, the gaps between the ... authorship of the Master’s Thesis submitted today entitled: A STUDENTS? ?? NEEDS ANALYSIS OF THE ENGLISH- MEDIUM FOREIGN TRADE OPERATING SKILLS COURSE AT FACULTY OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES – BA RIA- VUNG TAU UNIVERSITY. .. Objective needs can be diagnosed by teachers on the basis of the analysis of personal data about learners'' biographical data, such as age, gender, nationality, marital status, educational background,... Vietnam has signed 15 bilateral and multilateral trade agreements with most countries in the world (AFTA, ASEAN, ACFTA, AKFTA, AJCEP, VJEPA, AIFTA, AANZFTA, VCFTA, VKFTA, VN – EAEU FTA, CPTPP, AHKFTA,