B«%ilil (iuHsmg tsp cbi KHOA HtpC & CONG NGHE 152(07/2) 127 134 n S r ? ^ '''' ! ^ ™ " '''' ^ LANGUAGE THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Dang Thi Thu Huong'''' College of Education[.]
B«%ilil (iuHsmg tsp cbi KHOA HtpC & CONG NGHE 152(07/2): 127-134 n S r ? ^ ' ! ^ ™ " ' ^ LANGUAGE - THE TEACHING AND LEARNING OF ENGLISH AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Dang Thi Thu Huong' College ofEducation - TN SUMMARY ™,M„^ ^ Panioses) In lact smdents of diffeient majors at Thai Nguyen Universi^ in particular and smdents at oUierrniivemiUesm Viemam in general «quire English f o " I c purposes M order m assist them fa Uieir smdy, research and Smie eS^erlvefopmen" C ^ v E ° „ S r X f t ™ ° t " T r = ""• " ' - i ^ = ' ' P " ^ wiUiseS^^Sn? S m S r ! •' " " " " " ; , * = effectiveness of the teaching of English to meet the abovemenUoned puiposes is soil limited to Uiis article, Uie auUio, will |ive some suree^tions to mmmiize Uiese limittillons,fiinhemiore,to appeal some positive results ShL ETJish S S "sai^d speeiahzed leacher are in dose coonlination wiUi each oUier INTRODUCTION On Uie one hand, Uie intemationality of flie English language is real as one can observe and as proved by various writers Crystal 0997:2-4) points out flie global statos of English as a first language (eg m flie UK or Uie USA), an ofHcial language (eg ta hidia or Smgapore) and a foreign language in various oUier countties in flie worid Supported by statistics, he states, "nearly a quarter of flie world's population is already fluent or competent ta English, and ttiis figure is steadily growing " (ibid.:4-5) Justifying for Uie emergence of English as global language, he writes: On the other hand, when one language reaches the mteraational smttls, Uie issues of cultttte and culftnal identity arise (provided fliatflielanguage is not an artificial one), for [natural] language and culnire are inseparable Kramsch (1998) argues Uiat language expresses, embodies and symbolizes cultural reality Ha also sttesses flie diachronic value of language, stating Uiat "language is mtimately linked not only toflieculttuefliatis and flie cultttte fliat was, but also to flie cultiire of flie imagmation fliat governs people's decisions and actions (ibid.:8) The inseparability of language fiom culture is also discussed and eonflrmed in DuranU A language does not become a global (1997:332-336) Sunilarly, Brown (1987:122language because of its intrinsic structural 45) also sees Uie inteidependence of language propenies, or because of the size of its and cultiire, and points out Uiat "a language is vocabulary, or because il has been a vehicle a part of a culture and culture is a part of a o/a^eat literature in Ihe past or because it was once associated with a great language; Uie two are uitticately interwoven such that one cannot separate the two wiUiout culture of religion [ ] inconvenieni losing flie significance of eiflier language or strmlural properties [ ] nol stop language achieving inlemaiional status either culhire."(ibid.:123) [ ] A language becomes an inlemaiional However, Uie need for a global language, as a language for one chief reason: the political component of flie globalization, has been power of its people- (ibid.: 7) most urgent, particularly for Uie international academic and business communities as Tel: 0944 060305: Emad: dlhuongdhspm^gmallc Crystal (1997;IO-2) pomts out In flie case of Dang TTij TTiu Huong Tap chi KHOA HQC & C6NG M5R5i English as a global language, the issues of culture and cultural identity are not so serious Pennycook (1994:9) writes, "The spread of English is considered to be natural, neulral and beneficial [ ] is subsequent expansion is seen as a result of inevitable global focus It is seen as neutral because it is assumed ttiat once English has in some sense become detached from its original cultural contexts (particularly England and America), it is now a neulral and transparent medium of communication." All this has been posing significant implication on education Pennycoolc (ibid.:14) points outthatwith English taking up such an important position in many educational systems around the world, it has become one of the most powerful means of inclusion into exclusion from further education, employment, or social position This is - to a certain extent - is true to the current situation of Vietnam's educational system, especially at the tertiary level, where English is the most popular foreign language pursued by students In summary, as a global language, English is the dominant language - at least - foreign language in the ejqianded circle, in which Vietnam is a member, for its spread is natural, neutral and - most importantly - beneficial The role of English m the academic community is undeniable THE USE OF ENGLISH IN EDUCATION AT TERTIARY LEVEL AT THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY Goab and Objectives in English as a Foreign Language (EFL) at Tertiary Level The nature of language teaching, as Cook (1999:191) points out, is to develop "an L2 in a mmd that already contains an Ll." And Byiam (1997:22) stresses that "foreign' language teaching is centrally concemed with communication [emphasis added] in a foreign language." Byram's idea suggests the ultimate 128 fH(07/2j:t2^S goal in FLL - communiodion in Hie t< language - that ^ Beetf yA^^ ^ ^ ^ t This goal for the l o m i e r s ' m i ^ b e ' r ^ to add "a commimicative repertoire" i and Gookes, ! 993:9) TTie goal explicitly set in mediods communicative language teaching^i^ which holds that communication ^ i the goal but also Oie means of i leaming Obviously, the torn tMnum is understood in a broul sense, not in t simple and direct sense of &cecommunication Cook (1999:197-9), based on the s e t ^ j language use, divides flie aims of I teaching into two ^'pes: (1) cla^^ intemal goals, which "relate to the i life within the classroran, ifiiebi^ift communicating their back^tiundji feelings to each other" (ibid.: 197), i target-based extemal goals, which "relS the student's use of English outside classroom.,." (ibid.) It is clearly seen both these types, though distinguisha^ terms of closeness to the native speal«»iy the same ultimateness - communication I broad sense) Moreover, at tertiary level of edin academic and critical writing and skills are crucial Ha (2001), by an different in depdi conversations' Vietnamese overseas students in An " points out the necessity of teachini academic writmg skills to EFL especially to those pursuing overseas s In short, the goal to attain here communicative competence in EAP competence in particular Possibilities Hutchinson and Waters (1987) illusL™ common divisions made in English langi teaching in a tree figure They, before c to the definition of ESP, show what L, not According to them, ESP, fustly, jg "_, matter of teaching 'specialised varieties Bing Thj Thn Httoi^ Tap chf KHOA HIJC & CflNG NGHS 152(07/2): 127-134 Bnglish." (ibid.: 18) it, nealy, is "not just a (1987) shows a fifll inteipretation of where I W>f °t science woids and gianunar for ESP is m EFL/ ESL Moreover, Martm (1992: ^ Wientists, hotel words and giammar tii hotel 39-M) also distinguishes five diflerent s t ^ " (ibid.) Moreover, it is "not different degrees of specifiabilily, and confines Uie iq, kind ftom any oflier fonn of language ESP approach mainly to five types Of these teaching, infliatit should be based, m Uie first types EAP - a major blanch of ESP - is Uien '• *&nl!^ dn principles of^t»ctive-and of type IV specifiabilily-with flie learner's ' aaoient feammg." (ibid.) They UienlSefine objectives bemg eontent-fbenssed and a wide range of variable and unpredicttible text• WP * "an approach tt) language teaohmg m types It is unportimt to note fliat "ttie skills SlJiaiall decisions as^tti^ntent and meUiod required [ ] are not as important [ ] as flie aS based onflieleamei^ reason for leamuig." new content knowledge and critical flimking {ibia.: 19) In oflier words, it is "an approach skills required for success m tertiaiy-level id'laaguage tbaching which is dnected by subject-matter courses " (ibid.:42) In teims specific and apparent reasons for leaming." ofknowledge for ESP, Martin (ibid.: 108-11) (ibid.) ESP is, as Uiey point out, an approach, identifies flie four aspects of knowledge ilot'a product These aspects include: (1) knowledge of Firfliermore, Martm (1992:16-28), by givmg language (KL), or language proficiency; (2) a detailed answer to flie question "What knowledge of context (KC), orfieldexpertise; Uie lettets B-S-P stand foi7", elaborates and (3) knowledge oftext-types(KT), or ability to pomts out flie natiire of ESP This natiire recognise and produce appropriate types of might be summarised as follow: texts; and (4) knowledge of leamuig and (JJ J»c Vshouldbe inffrpretedas 'speci/iabk', procedures (KLP), or one's purposes for which typicalises ESP courses in lerms of pre- learning, one's ability or leaming style, eqwm.planimgprocess, though His commonly leamuig tt) use language more efficiently He fonnulates flie knowledge (K) for ESP as; K mdmtoodas 'special'or 'specie'; - KL + KC + KT + KLP Though Martin ' ^ ' The 'E' is the representative of any (ibid.: 109) points out Uiat fliese four aspects language to be learnt; are not separate, he goes on, after analysing (3) The 'P' is the learner's purpose, which different sitiiations, to state, "Thus, in eveiy comprises the pre-determined/pre-^lecled goal ESP programme, alfliough all knowledge and lhe ongoing inlentionality and motivation types should be part of pre-planning and ^ a i s o sttesses fliat Uie nattne of flie 'E' m implementation, a variable focus peimits the B|P has been changing all flie time, programme to be sensitive to Uie variable knowledge needs of flie ttainee-leamers" Kpecially wifli flie mcreasing number of its {ibid.:lll) learners and flie users in flie 'expanded cirele' (Hiid) He goes on to point out flie great sttlngUi offlier inflieleamuig process Sttessing on the significance of KL in ESP, Johns (1992: 73), m comparing ESP and especially m an EFL environment/ setting, Content-Based Instinction (CBI), states Uiat Godman (1976) - who holds flie similar view "ESP has often been limited to one skill, wiUi Johns (1992) on ESP- shows Uiat, fladjfe because fliis is what stiidents m The sludenl has two tasks to complete: (IJ ftrten countties badly need in order tti The study of the vocabulaiy he will fM in '^^i^Bss teicts in science and technology." This books antt periodicals and which he himself Stetement, on the basis of theoiy, is by no will need to use lo record his awn observalion means satisfactoiy, though it is so in reality and communlcale his findings (2) The Tbe tree figure in Huttihinson and Waters English language syntactic sduclures Ihal he D?ng Thi Thu Huong Tap chi KHOA HQC & CONG NGHfi must master if his record is going to be made in English sentences, (ibid: 71-2) In feet, it is clear that these tasks are not the only ones that an ESP student has to fiilfil Though the idea is narrow, it stresses the importance of vocabulary- an element of KLfor ESP students Godman (ibid.) also puts the words in the voc^ulary that is needed for an ESP student into three categories: (1) those which are restricted to the scientific language; (2) those which are used ui both general and scientific language contexts but with restricted meaning; and (3) those which are grammatical and logical words, and are from the general language In feet, Godman's idea is similar to John's (I992X which is narrow, and wiiich should be about EAP- a branch of ESP, as Hutchinson and Waters (1987) point out Conceming KT, Yin (1988: 74) distinguishes between "Academic" and "Professional" texts According to him, academic texts "offer theoretical highly technical knowledge for its own sake, normally read only- by students, and specialists interested in theoretical research and findings in the field." Whereas, professional texts "would refer to writing by practitioners about practical issues encountered in the course of their work These can often be understood (with some help) by non-specialist readers." It might be concluded that in certain situations - take the teaching and learning EFL setting at tertiary level as an example KL and KT should be the two priorities among the four aspects of the K mentioned above The reason is that, normally, the content is taught m the students' native language, while the language teacher tends to focus on general English or English for No Obvious Purposes And, the question tfiat arises from here is how to develop a suitable, effective and efficient syllabus for ESP students, especially EAP students at tertiary level no 152^7/2): 127* Desirable outcomes As goal-directedi flie outcomes should^ EFL fluency fti the academic setting, does not exclude the general English fiut Barriei^ In the setting of E F L teaching and It Thai Nguyen University, various barriws be detected if an E A P ^ l l a b u s is a^pl Firstly, the design of a suitable E A P s y l l i d i ^ is costing in terms of time, management q s i i finance, for Thai Nguyen University - ^' multidisciplinary one Secondly the pi teaching and learning styles are not inclu; to the goal set Another drawback is content-knowledge (eg Pltysio^ Mathematics, or Biology) of the langiuge teacher And, in reality, there has been no cooperation between tiie content mstractor aniJ the language instructor ^ SUGGESTIONS T h e Content-based syllabus as the clto% for EAP j,,^ Snow et al (1989) advocate tfie mtegration ^ language and content in language and a movement towards a content- bag approach They argue, for this mtegritfi^ that "Language is teamed most effectively fer communication in meanmgfijl purpose * social and academic contexts (ibid 202) ; They go further, pointing out that integration "provides a substantive b a s i s ! language teaching and leammg (ibid),J the dialectical and mutual relatiot between language and context Ano^ rationale they give for this integration id i "Context also provides a cognitive basis | language leammg " (ibid.) Sharing tfiis viewpoint, Eskey (1992^ argues that "language is somefliing to e x p ^ content with." He also points out '^ advantages of this type of syllabus, "This kind of syllabus incorporates all t dimensions of the good language c o u r s e ^ dimensions of content, fimction and for (ibid.: 17) P|°g Thj Thn ttiong Tai dd KHOA HOC & CONG NGHE 152(07/2): 127-134 jinolher reasonfin-implementing a contem- In or^r to solve these problems Mister hased syllabus, as AJamsoa (1993) points (1992:79), n, (19SS:74) surest the adjtau:! am, is Ihal students can best leam acadendc language instruction/team teaching model, in strategies in a content- based course that uses which "a language leacher works in landem Mlhenltc texts Furthennore, Snow el al with a content teacher." (Master: 1992:79) (i9S9:213-6), arpdng Jin' the integration ttf Master (ibid.) also proposes a solution lo Ihe tongue^ ami content, show variom advanuges problem of non-expert language leacher in pr athasl, Ihe language teacher/instructor, of the conlent area by lhe mutual leaming iel^lh these iu-e notable: between the language leacher and the (1) The language mstnicblr is flien able fc) fcoorporate infe) language histtnction meanin^l and hnportant content fliat has evident language-related value in flie rest of tile curricohim." (ibid.:213) (2) T h e mtegration [ ] implies flie iillegtation of higher orderflimldngskills infci the language classroom." (ibid.:2i5) (J) "The mtegration [ ] concerns flie tfilationship between learning and teachmg [ ] Teachmg serves to provide opporttmities for sftidents tt) engagefliemselvesin leammg about content through language." (ibid.:216) One significant reason for fliis kind of ^Jlabns to be miplemented isfliatfliesttidents p fce syllabus are nonnally highly motivated, ftiK enhancmg Uie learning process, and *olIli^g' the positive leaming cycle A final reason here is fliat Uiis kmd of «llahus helps to avoid flie possibility Uiat 2^aE"age leacheis may focus too much on ^ { language raflier on flie communicative efeotiveness of flie smdents' work (Ym,I988:75), especiaUy m ESP, in general and inEAP, in particular *WevBr, EskBy (1992:18-9) pomts out flie Jioigation of Uie content-based syllabus, and the problems it geneiates He analysesflietwo flpt^ftipublesome problems, which are (1) 'JUie problem of relating language form to llpguiige fimction and content " and (2) flie p)bbm of smdents nol makmg normal fliogniss u flie course Moreover, anoflier problem ttiat should be taken mto eensideration is tfie language teacher not being an expert m the content area students and/or content leacher His solution, nevertheless, cannot be always thorough, especially when Ihe same language teacher has to work or works in more Ihan one content-area ttt the same lime The reality of FIT has proved the value of this model Bynom (2000:38-42), reporting Ihe resuiis of leam-leaching al his inslitulion, writes: One of flie positive results Uiat emerged from flie team-teaching effort was fliat flie ESP teacher came to be accepted as part of tfie class [.,.] The experience of team-teachmg allowed ESPfc)become part of flie dynamics of die classroom and h) experience Uie kmds of difficulties the smdentsfece (ibid.) He also points out that in team-teaching, the language leacher is the students' source of language help, whereas the sludenls become pari of the content source for the language teacher Snow el al (1989:205) propose a conceptualfi-ameworkfor lhe integration tif language and content asfollow: (Source: Snow et al., 1989:205) Dang Thi Thu Hmmg T9p chi KHOA HOC & CONG N ^ They point out the significant difference between content-obligatory language objectives and content-compatible language objectives- The former "derive directly from the linguistic needs for communicating the infoimation in the content area." (ibid.206) The latter "derive fium the second/ foreign language curriculum and ongoing assessment of leamer needs and progress." (ibid.) Conceming KT and materials, Martin (1992:128-31) shows two different ways in which text-types can be identified if commercially available materials are not/ will not be used One way is identifying "key communication events in the target situation" to which key text-types would correspond The other way is fmding authentic texts, most of which could be associated with corresponding communicative events He states that both these two ways yield the same results, which are: " - A list/ lists of key communicative events - A list/ lists of corresponding text-types - Sample authentic texts, most of which will fit into text-types." (ibid.: 129) However, he also warns of the new and unexpected text-types, which require the learners' skills of processing Furthermore, Feez (1998:27-35) shows the five stages of processing a text: (l)building the context; (2) modeling and deconstiTicting die text; (3) joint construction of tfie text; (4) independent construction of tfie text; and (5) linking related texts Feez (ibid.:28) also stresses the possibility of beginning tiie cycle witii any stage A PROPOSED SUPPLEMENTARY EAP CONTENT -BASED SYLLABUS FOR PHYSICS -MAJORED STUDENTS AT THE COLLEGE OF EDUCATION - THAI NGUYEN UNIVERSITY As discussed, a CBS would be tfie best choice for students following an EAP course However, one point must be considered: it 152(07/2^: m ^ would only exeit^its fiiU effect m a language envingBiieiiL In r e a l t y